StarFox: SIMILAR PATHS TAKEN
by Kit-Karamak
Summary: Published 2005, odd how at this age, this story has a sort of ...cult following. Anyway. SUMMARY: Three parallel dimensions. Three Fox McClouds [Military, Mercenary and Female]. How will their teams respond to one another? We now know that female Fox McCloud has had a rough past, how will that affect the StarFox Armada? Back by popular request! R&R!
1. Chapter 1 and 2, together

I don't EVEN KNOW what happened to my CREATEDFROMPAIN account. I modified my penname to Kit-Karamak and updated my email addie to the new one. Suddenly I can't use CreatedFromPain and Kit-Karamak thinks it's a brand new account, where I don't have access to my old stuff.

Because of this crazyness, I wanted to appologize with this letter, add the first two chapters, all at once, as part of this letter, then put up Chapter 3.

Enjoy! Oo;;;

1993 NP Comic Fox Jr and Fara are forced into the blackhole, where they're forced by a mixture of fate and freewill to become allies of Fox (son of James) & Krystal to combat an undefeatable Foe. Continued from CreatedFromPain, my old, dead name.

Sci Fi

Action/Adventure

CreatedfromPain's SIMILAR PATHS TAKEN (continues here)

"Similar paths taken"

Disclaimer shortened for your pleasure: "All deze junks belong to Nintendo. The work is fiction, if it happens or already happened, it's not like I planned it. The presented work of fiction belongs to Ken Weaver. Kit Karamak McCloud and Diane "snowy" Rosen belong to Ken Weaver. Names of places, things, etc are all Nintendo stuff.

Don't sell this, because I don't have a license or permission from Nintendo to make money on these characters and neither do you.

If you alter this story or redistribute this as your own work, I'll bust a jackie-chan upside your head. If you like this story enough to show all your friends or post it with my name properly attached, you'll be my new best friend, because that's fly.

Disclaimers are dumb, I'm not a lawyer ...and if YOU are a lawyer, how many lawyers does it take to fly an arwing? Arwings don't exhist, Nintendo hasn't licensed the design to SkunkWorks yet, so the answer is ZERO, foo'!

Finally, enjoy this story. I edited out several paragraphs of intimate details and gore from this chapter and many others, and if you don't like it, email me at ROCKSTARTRAVISTYatAOLdotCOM and I'll be happy to send you the unabridged version. Yes, I know I spelled Travesty wrong. I did it on purpose. Weee.

By the way, Yes I know double spacing between paragraphs is annoying. keeps half-eating my format, so I did this so it's not just a stupid box of run-on text. If it DOES show up as a stupid box of run-on text, I'll edit the thing when I figure out how to make it display properly. Enjoy, Mortals!

A Starfox (nintendo trademark) fan fiction.

* * *

Presently. . .

Three young McClouds brought their Arwing fighters up into a triangular formation. Dashing across the inky void of the assumable final frontier wasn't where it all began, but in fact, was the climatic conclusion to the short, fated assembly of Fox McCloud with himself. Having met himself face to face for the first time had brought many different thoughts to his mind, including how to make himself a better person, all the way to more philosophical views that he'd never thought to have until now.

Was space the final frontier? No, the mind was. And the more one knows themselves in the truest sense, the more one would explore that truly-final frontier, for no one truly knows its bounds... if it has any at all. Fox's fate wasn't some manifest destiny, an exploration into his own heart... no, it was more of a savior's destiny... meeting himself in a different light, but in that meeting, learning what it truly meant to carry out the actions of that infamous title: Hero.

There were three young McClouds. Fox McCloud Junior, Fox McCloud – son of James-, and a previously unknown Fox McCloud, the most mysterious of the three. Their combative flight together was the climatic sentence leading up to the exclamation mark punctuating the very last word of Fate's latest short story in life. Was there freewill? Of course, but some things... very few, but some things did, indeed, happen for a reason. Call it a plan... or a possible story with different possibilities, that always had the same last page... call it a fork of lightening or a well pruned Bonsai tree, where you traveled the trunk to the tip, then looked back and wondered what would have happened if you followed a different branch to its own tip? Fox finally knew the answer to that one... You'd look back the same way and ask yourself a different set of questions.

The three Arwings parted; each opened fire on the massive core of energy that spread out before them, tearing through the fabric of space time, causing ripples in the reality of their current dimension, itself. Blinding ripples of color glittered from each tear, which worked quickly to mend itself, only to be ripped open once more by the growing field of energy.

It was only a matter of time or fate that would explain the outcome, but each pilot fought on, striving to see the end of the final chapter, to see where their own fates would take them. Each Fox McCloud would be thought dead by his doppelganger after the final word was reached, and the story would end. But as stated previously, this was a false start.

To truely understand what each McCloud had come to learn, one would have to start from the beginning, when the fork of branches precipitated an intertwining, and Freewill would temporarily be put on hold, so that Destiny could play it's part in our Hero's life. One would have to look back as far as several days to understand the present turn of events. Only one thing was sure about Fate... Those who wield it were the ONLY ones to have freewill during that brief moment when Destiny took center stage.

The name of that wielder was non-other than Fox McCloud. Son of Fox Senior, son of James, it didn't matter. Fiancé to Fara Phoenix, or betrothed to Krystal of Cerinia, their fates intertwined in a way that seemed unconceivable: By the crossing of paths... When one branch comes inwardly, careening into the sprouting trunk, and making the first makings of a figure 8 pattern in itself... the sign of infinity... The mark of forever. And how often did the branch of a tree do something fantastic like that?

Chapter 1 - The gears of Fate begin to turn.

Fox McCloud stood upon the bridge of GREATFOX, rubbing his chin softly. The retired old hare, Peppy, struggled to stay awake, sitting quietly near the navigation screen. Quiet eyes of a sea-green gaze stay fastened on the view screen, who's omnipotent glance into the void was currently held steady upon the glow of SOL, a small red dot at the viewscreen's center.

A frown marred McCloud's features as the man stood in contemplation of life's challenges. Namely, what to buy Krystal for her birthday. It was one of life's challenges, really. How best to please her with something material? Oh but there were so many things, and his gift had to be the perfect one.

His bank account was at least healthy again, having torn through his last adventure, battling along side his team, Falco, Slippy and Krystal. Things had finally settled down now and his thoughts were on the task at hand... A birthday gift; but what to buy? Was there anything in the world that he would consider 'perfect'?

His thoughts were disrupted by the clearing of a throat. Fox whirled about, facing the azure-feathered visage of Falco Lombardi, whose devious gaze seemed to strangely telegraph an upcoming mature comment.

"Go to bed, Fox. That's an order. You haven't slept since we left orbit and if something comes up, big or small, you'll have your mind filled with dumb stuff."

"Buying a birthday gift isn't exactly... eh... trivial," Fox scoffed, reaching his right paw back behind his head to scritch lightly. "Besides," He added, "What could possibly come up?"

"Yeah, it was pretty quiet for 8 years," Falco admitted quietly. Then a shrug of his shoulders, and he continued, "..Then all of a sudden, we got two big paying jobs, back to back. It happens when it wants to, and you wanna be like, yanno, well rested."

"Yeah... I appreciate yer concern, Falco. But right now, I've just got my girl's happiness on my mind."

"Whatever," Falco chuckled, shrugging his shoulders. "My rule on girls: Make'em pine for ya, so they not only know their place, but instead of expecting something huge, they're delighted WHEN something big happens... I hate when a girl expects something of me, man."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Fox. Look at Katt Monroe. It's been 10 years and she's still burnin' and yearnin' for the ole' Falc-myster."

"You're horrible," Fox said, shaking his head softly. Ten years to keep someone waiting was awful... almost detestable. "You really should just settle down with her or something... make her part of the team, and spend some time with her. Right now, we can afford having one more mouth to feed, I don't mind. Besides, if things slow down too much, I know you'll just disappear with her, so that'd be two less mouths to feed if money got low again."

Falco chuckled, "Don't we just know all, almighty Fox McCloud."

"Oh give it a rest," McCloud grunted.

"Oh I did, and look where it left you? I seem to remember a different time, with a different planet and yet ya still needed ole Falco's help. Remember that buddy? What? Just a bit ago, over Dinosaur Planet," Lombardi said, joshing playfully.

"Other than provide me with a few Smart missiles and Nova Bombs, you didn't do a whole lot," Fox replied with a grin. Falco just shrugged, rolling his eyes and walked off the bridge to leave Fox back to his pondering again. No use arguing with the boss when he was in one of his moods. Ole Falco wouldn't win by a long shot. Why try?

The deck doors slid shut at the back of the bridge, leaving Fox alone to his thoughts, his star gazing, and Peppy's snoring. Joy. Now, what to get for Krystal?

Fox stood in silence another full moment before one of GreatFox's proximity sensor alert's went off without warning. Peppy woke up with a start and Fox blinked twice before dashing over to the tactical readout. According to it's sweep reading, there was some sort of shockwave rumbling through the void, heading their way.

From the looks of the shockwave, it wouldn't cause anything more than slight turbulence, but still, Fox had to be curious of its origin. Shockwaves just don't come from random strange occurrences. There was always some sort of reason behind it, but nothing that Fox could establish from a glance at the system-wide sensor report. Truth was, according to the readout, there was nothing behind the shockwave to confirm any sort of trouble. There wasn't even so much as a solar flare involved.

The strange emptiness on the board eluded the pilot, who glanced up at Peppy, deciding to join the head pilot at the tactical station. They had no time to make an announcement, due to the incoming speed of the shockwave and each grabbed quickly to a railing that circled the bridge. Almost immediately afterwards, the GreatFox shuttered softly and the shockwave passed, heading onwards in it's path to wherever.

"That was...uh," Fox trailed off, confusion marring his brow.

"Interesting?" Peppy said, finishing his long-time-friend's sentence. Fox could only agree, uttering softly, "To say the least, Peppy."

"Should we check it out?" The retired hare wondered allowed.

"Maybe we should wait until someone offers to pay us for it," Fox suggested, grinning sheepishly.

"Maybe we should get a head start, just incase we are paid to do it, so that we can get the money sooner?" Peppy replied, grinning equally impish. Fox couldn't argue with that logic and walked across the bridge to the navigational pilot controls. After a few key-sequences punched in, GreatFox came under manual control and Fox steered it into the direction the shockwave came from, re-engaging Auto Pilot and entering in a command for the computer to follow, speed and course-wise.

Slippy Toad made his way onto the bridge, rubbing his palms together against an oil-cloth. Without a word, he approached the sensor readout computer, stealing a glance from Fox over to Peppy. He peered down into the personal view scope for a moment, not caring to put it's image up on the main view screen.

Finally, the frog lifted his head took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Should I even ask?" His nasal voice erupted in question.

"We're gonna go check it out," Fox replied. Slippy shrugged for a moment, obviously tired from putting in too many hours of repair and not enough hours of sleep. He had just passed Falco out in the hall, who was chuckling and shaking his head, which had only caused Slippy's curiosity at the turbulence the entire ship had experienced, to broaden. And now he was curious about the large rippling waves that they were about to pass through, heading towards whatever it was that most likely exploded.

"Slippy," Fox said, folding his arms across his chest, "You know how Krystal's birthday is coming up?"

"Yeah, Fox. Whatcha get for her?"

McCloud's right paw slipped behind his head. If one knew better, one might have thought they could see a bead of sweat on the side of his furry head. "Well..." the pilot trailed off.

"Oh, one of those deals. You'd better hurry, Fox. You've only got t-t-two days." Slippy folded his own arms across his chest, grinning lopsidedly. Fox's expression basically said 'don't remind me'. Both pilots turned to glance at the slumbering old timer sitting over by the communications panel. Finally, Slippy decided to say something else, "Yanno. It's at least an hour before we arrive to the abandoned Area6 defense perimeter. We have time to go c-c-catch a bite. I'll be in the galley."

Once again, Fox was left to his quiet thoughts. The only way to figure out what Krystal wanted was to spend some time prying it out of her. That decided, the vulpine wing commander nodded to Slippy and the two departed for their destinations. Krystal most likely slept through the first shockwave so he decided to check on her.

The doors slid apart and Fox walked into the quiet quarters of his girlfriend's place of slumber. Once the doors closed, behind him, he began to squint until his eyes adjusted to the pitch black. A window in the living area was illuminated by the light bars of stars and space debris traveling passed at sub-light speed. Passing through the living area, Fox headed for the bedroom.

The door slipped open with near silence and Fox approached the bed. The scent of his lover's form was ahead of him, causing him to shiver. Kneeling down at the edge of the bedside, Fox leaned forward brushing his lips gently against hers. To his surprise, her left arm lurched about his neck, pulling him forward, into the kiss. Their tongues dueled momentarily before her other paw reached to grasp at his shirt.

Her fingertips delicately danced over the cloth of his shirt, unbuttoning each fastening object before running her palms over his broad chest, touching with a firm caress. Fox moved up onto the mattress, while her paws explored playfully. Capturing her paw below the wrist, McCloud gently guided her touch down his tummy to indulge in the purity and healing powers of simplistic touch. The two lovers burned for one another with an eagerness blooming in their chests.

These actions were followed by the passionate actions of soul mates, something shared only between them and best left private, behind locked doors.

An hour later...

Another rumble shook Fox from his light slumber, laying upon Krystal's sated form. He shook his head softly, trying to shake the grogginess from his brain, sitting up on the edge of the mattress. His paw lifted to rub at the back of his neck, grunting softly. Grabbing his pants from the floor and slipping them on, McCloud walked from the bedroom to the living area, peering out the window.

Fluorescent shimmering ribbon whipped about, leaving trails of colorful light spectrums, dancing and flitting across the void. They were definitely close to whatever it was that caused this spacial anomaly. Dashing back to the bedroom, Fox turned the light on to a dim setting and fetched Krystal her robe, tossing it to her.

"Wake up, hon. It might be time to play hero again." With his words, Krystal began to sit up, rubbing at her eyes. She drew the robe up into her arms, slipping from the bed. Fox's sea-green gaze raked gently over her feminine visage once, before turning back for the door, saying "Meet me on the bridge, love."

Once on the bridge, Fox made his way towards the meandering frog that paced the deck. The two made eye contact before Slippy nodded towards the sensor panel over by the wall. With an up-nod, Fox greeted Peppy who was now awake over by the view screen. McCloud glanced around the room once more before lowering his gaze to the Sensor viewfinder and pausing for a moment.

Fox cleared his throat and said, "It looks like the warp tunnel that we experienced back in the ruins of the Sector-X research Lab that took us to Sector-Z where we got ambushed... which is the artificial jump right? The natural one was in Meteo, which dumped out at Katenia or something right?"

"You're practically right on the money, Fox," Peppy said, rubbing his chin.

"Practically?" Fox wondered aloud. "But not completely?"

This time it was Slippy to answer, "Exactly. It's only similar. This isn't a natural time-space slip-warp... this is a wormhole. An exit to a black hole, the wormhole's mouth has no natural gravity well, which are supposed to be capable of sucking in even rays of light. That's why you're seeing all these colorful ribbons of light... It's been sucked in from the other side, and on this side, we're seeing a light show. The question is, why did the wormhole open here? Where is the black hole on the other side of it, located?"

"And most importantly," Fox added, "Is it natural, is it artificially made? And does it pose any sort of danger to Lylat..."

"Well," Slippy pondered aloud, "I don't think that it does, necessarily. I can't see any natural danger it would hold. Sometimes a Black hole can hold so much in it's void, which tunnels through the fabric of normal time-space, and if the swelling tunnel ruptures, it can open one of these suckers here, anywhere in the galaxy on accident... it's only temporary before the natural laws of time-space physics mend itself. You can't have permanent ruptures, or slowly every hole that popped up would eat up everything in the galaxy. It's silly, I know. But it's not swiss-cheese we're talking about here; it's a living, existing universe. It does heal itself, on its own. Usually they only open like this when there's a solid object that survived the crushing gravity by accident, and the object punctures the space-time fabric, being expelled through this temporary and highly unstable opening."

Fox and Peppy paused for a moment to simply glare at Slippy. Fox was the first to say it... "Simplified explanation... IN CORNERIAN, please."

The frog shook his head with a sigh. "It's not that complicated. You got a black hole, most likely from a collapsed star. The collapse is so powerful it causes a vacuum suction, that sucks anything in, from light to debris... Think of a black hole as a skimmer for a swimming pool... all the garbage eventually ends up in one to keep the galaxy a clean and orderly place. No trash. Occasionally some trash or any other kind of solid object, say the hull of an abandoned space station or well designed ship... doesn't get crushed in the vacuum-esque gravity-well... then what? Does the black hole fill up? Where does all the crap go? Sometimes it punctures the fabric of natural space-time and ends up in random places throughout the galaxy. Oops..."

Fox tilted his head, staring at the frog, "Simpler, go on..."

Slippy groaned softly, "Think of the fabric of time-space as a rug. Think of a blackhole as the vacuum cleaner that's occasionally popping up in the room for a cleaning. Sometimes the bag breaks if you suck up something pointy. A bit of dust and dirt escapes and the object tumbles from the bag, but it might not fall out of the bag over by the chair where you sucked it up, but maybe land on the other side of the room, by the time you've made your way over there. Now, back to that rug, say you're as lazy as a StarFox pilot and when you empty the vacuum cleaner's bag, you just dump the stuff underneath the rug. See that? Out of sight, out of mind, right? Now say, so many people walk across that rug, that a small, sharp object, like a thumb tack, works it's way from one end of the carpet to the other end, just because of the foot traffic. And one day, when someone steps the right way, the thumb tack is pushed up through the carpet, cutting a hole in it, so that it's sticking out. Either way you wanna look at it, this is just an accidental anomaly."

"...Alright," Fox said, rubbing his chin, "Is it dangerous?"

"Depends if the thumbtack is sticking straight up through the carpet. Anyone with bare feet can step right on it. But it doesn't have to be a danger... Sometimes it can be controlled for ships with their G-Diffuser set backwards to absorb gravity and displace it properly, for safe passage. The problem with that is the simple fact that it's nearly impossible to process the mathematical information quickly enough to figure out where to punch a hole through the rug to escape from being on the wrong side of Time-Space's natural fabric, so you can pop up where you wanna emerge. Once you go in, who knows where you'll exit. For all one can know, they'll end up in some uncharted region of the universe, alone forever."

"All right," Fox chuckled, "Enough with the dramatizing. It's not like we're going in, you said it was unstable and heals itself. There would be no way to get back, if we entered the pinhole in the side of a funnel, that happens to be passing by, underneath our uh, fabric of time space. How does this crap all work?"

Slippy lifted his right hand, waving it up and down, panning from left to right. His hand gestures resembled typical radio waves, like a rollercoaster. "Now, Fox... say this is a straight line in Linear Space. It doesn't look like a straight line, but Space is so infinite, that this is what a straight line looks like in normal space..."

"Alright, Slippy. I'm with you so far," Fox replied, watching his fellow pilot.

"Now, this straight line takes you from Point A to point B... and it takes... oh... say... two days of travel to reach your destination."

"Go on," Fox said.

"Okay good. Now," This time Slippy used his other hand and panned it from left to right, straight through without making wavy motions, like his last hand. "What if you could go straight through the ribbon of natural, linear timespace... and get from point A to point B directly. It would only take you ten minutes because you bypassed all the Linear, natural fabric flow of Actual Time Space... and you went straight to your destination immediately..."

Fox groaned. "I hate to say this, but you lost me again. Go back to the rug theory. Explain it through that."

"Alright, alright, Fox," Slippy chuckled softly. "Say you've got a really large rug.. 18 by 18 in a 20x20 room. On that rug, you've got furniture... a few chairs, a sofa on one side, a TV across from it, a coffee table... all that. Now. Normally, to get across the room, we have to walk across the rug, go around a chair, step between the coffee table and sofa, and go around a lamp stand, and to get from point A to point B in a straight line, it took us 2 minutes to go around all the stuff. But that stuff is always there and you're used to walking around it to get passed it. It's just natural for you. That's the straight line of travel, to get from one door to the other, on the other side of the room. However, what if you could, somehow, travel underneath the rug? If you developed a method of transportation, that let you go underneath the rug, go straight through, without having to go around that coffee table, the sofa, the chairs and all that? Traveling at the same speed, you'd get across the room in fifteen seconds."

Fox tilted his head. It made sense. It did before, in a matter of speaking, but he just wanted to make sure he wasn't confusing anything. And by now, he knew Peppy was probably on the same page as well. In fact, Fox felt comfortable asking questions now that he understood the basic theory that Slippy was trying to explain.

"Allright. So there's a pinhole in the garden hose and it's starting to flood a small part of the grass in the middle of the lawn. Do we assume it's open because whatever solid object ripped it open has already come through? And how would we find it?" McCloud folded his arms, looking over to Peppy, who immediately began to pull up the area's star charts, then back to Slippy, waiting for an explanation.

"That sounds about right, but anything is possible, Fox. For all we know, from what little information scientists know about all this stuff, the wormhole may open up on it's own, anticipating the debris, so that by the time the object passes by, it's sucked out, into natural space like a garbage shoot. Or, maybe this is the end of the hose... or as you called it earlier... the end of the funnel. We can only speculate, Fox."

"If this was the end of the line, wouldn't it always be here?"

"Not exactly," Slippy said. He felt like he was giving a lesson or something. "With as much power that everything is being sucked in, on the other end; don't think of this as a garden hose... think of it as a fire-hose. With no force in nature strong enough to hold it in place, it's ending flies all about, like the end of a fire hose that's spraying all over the place. The ending might be here for an hour or two, then move across the galaxy, spraying it's contents all about the rug.

"Long story short..?" Slippy continued, clearing his throat again. "It just moves trash around. Eventually that stuff will wind up at the next closest star, be drawn in by the Star's gravity and get burned up like an incinerator. God has Her own rules for keeping this place looking clean. It's our job to see if we can't understand it all better."

"Alright," Fox finally concluded. "Let's just enjoy the light show and see if anything happens. If something threatening comes out, or has come out and we find it... we'll blast it and send Pepper the bill." To this, Peppy grinned inwardly, chuckling softly. At the back of the room, the double doors slid open and Falco, followed by Krystal, came inside.

"What the Sam-hell is that thing," Falco grunted, looking at the fluttering hole on the view screen, where glittering light rays escaped in a wisp of emanating gases.

Before Slippy could answer, Fox replied to the Avian's question with a simple "Lylat has a flat tire. You're looking at the hole. It'll patch itself like the self-inflatable kind, but right now, you're looking at a pinhole in the funnel shaped natural anomaly, we call "black hole tunnel made a wrong turn in Albuquerque". Right now, we're looking to see if any thumb-tacks jut out of our rug, so we can blast it and send Pepper the bill."

"Cool. Can we fire a nova bomb into it and see where the thing ends up?" Falco said with a cocky grin.

"This isn't a billiard table of life, what if it comes out somewhere we don't want it to? Like in front of a populated space station or something," Fox snapped, shooting Falco's playful idea down.

Peppy, on the other hand, came to Falco's rescue, supporting his idea to an extent. "True, Fox. But what about a probe? Perhaps something we can track?" The hare came to stand besides the tall Avian, slipping his paws into his pockets. The entire group turned to Slippy.

"What? If it dumps out a billion light-years from here, we just wasted money on a probe. If this isn't the end of the line, and the probe comes back, we're likely to loose it. I doubt this...ah.. pinhole came so close to the end, that we'd get our probe back, let alone be able to track it's signal, which we only pick up if it's within 3 light-years. And that's pretty darn far."

"Ah well, it could be fun," Fox chuckled. "Launch the probe."

"Nothing like probing a strange space-orifice, in the name of science," Falco snickered. His remark got a giggle from Krystal.

Chapter 2 - Fate intervenes; Freewill steps to the wayside.

-----------

Chapter 2 - Fate intervenes; Freewill steps to the wayside.

The four meter probe shot from one of the missile-launch tubes on the front end of the GreatFox. The speeding, sleek hull of the probe sailed through the inky tendrils of space, heading for the rift where the rays of light escaped captivity. Within seconds, it disappeared from view, entering the slipstream tunnel, its signal reception quickly beginning to fade from GreatFox's computer link. Just before it stopped completely, the probe collided with something solid coming at it, in the opposite direction.

The speeding object hurdled through the gravity tunnel, heading towards the opening far up ahead. The probe was pushed backwards by the force of the larger object, screaming towards the opening in the rift up ahead. The thrust of the probe only worked to slow the object's velocity from a terminal speed, down to something less intense, but causing the object to spin lightly as it neared the gaping exit up ahead.

The probe's reception strength began to intensify, sending a detailed report of it's findings... the solid object, weight and size, back to GreatFox, where they would learn that there were two life forms locked inside. Finally the rectangular box gushed out through the wormhole, spinning like a gyroscope, or some sort of dradle.

Within, there were two vulpine beings, free-floating without the restraint of gravity. Both were alarmed by the sound of a metallic thud on the outside of the hull, where the probe had collided with their box-like prison cell. The two beings embraced one another, in fear, in uncertainty. The thudding and thumping grew louder as, unknown to the beings within the box, it was being tractored into the landing bay of the GreatFox cruiser.

One male and one female, both were rendered into a state of unconsciousness by the sudden addition of gravity, causing both to drop from their free-fall floating state. The male groaned softly, fighting to stay conscious, hearing someone gasp in surprise far in the background. Struggling with the concussion he'd received from the fall, he faded to the sounds of the surprised crew that had found them. He couldn't make out their words, but he could tell the level of great shock in their voices. The world faded to a muffled, dull roar then slipped into silence.

The silence was replaced with breathing. This had happened before. No, this was happening now. Wasn't it? No, this was reliving a memory? Either way, it was a memory, so there was no way to control it or change what was happening. The decisions were made. They couldn't be taken back, it was happening this way for a reason, and now Fox McCloud Junior would relive it exactly the same way.

His eyes fluttered open and his gaze was set upon the calm demeanor of Fara Phoenix. The team was shot down somewhere over Venom, leaving only himself and Fara to enter the massive core-base ventilation shaft in the Satellite structure hovering in Venom's orbit. The two fighter pilots grew nervous as they hurtled through the tube, through the main port and came out on the inside of the massive core room. Both Arwings were tiny in comparison to the giant core structure before them.

Fox reached up, adjusting the silver communication helm he was wearing, then kissed his index finger, and touched the ribbons on his aviator uniform for luck. It was something his dad used to do in a tight situation before disappearing in the Gravity Bomb blast from Andross' experiments. That dirty old freak was going to pay. Fox Senior's disappearance caused a mixture of resolve and grief to the Junior Pilot, who had finished his days in the academy only to be ejected to Papetoon for unruly behavior in a rebellious revolt directed towards Andross. Fox started a protest, to look for pilots he could use to go straight to Venom and attack. Disposing of Andross by means of expulsion from the planet wasn't good enough for Fox. It wasn't an eye for an eye.

The protest put Fox and three pilots on the quiet trader planet, Papetoon, with orders not to leave. Fox made his way about, hurting Andross' extended reach into Papetoon's economy by raiding Venom ships and pirating the imperial forces. Needless to say, Papetoon was one of the few planets that wasn't under the influence of Doctor Andross Oikonni. Before long, Fox and his group were summoned back to Corneria, who finally recognized their ability to keep an entire planet free of Andross' dictatorship. As a last resort, Corneria reinstated Fox and his group back into the Cornerian flight rosters with aviator trainer Fara Phoenix.

Fox and the team had shut Andross' Telekinetic amplification weapon down on their first run, but a large victory would not win the war on it's own. Fox had delivered a nuclear device that would turn Venom into a large asteroid but not before his team was shot down over the planet's surface. He couldn't detonate the device, with them down on the surface. If he couldn't save them, Cornerian military forces would rescue them and then detonate the planet-buster. It was the only way to end the war.

That brought Fox up to speed, here in the core-chamber. Their weapons glanced off the Core's protective shielding with ease. The only way to destroy it would be to crash his ship into the core or land and sabotage the thing on foot. Either way, things were heating up and life was becoming difficult by the addition of hover droids that began filtering into the room, opening fire on his and Fara's fighter.

"Send in Don von Killer!" a voice crackled over the all-channel frequency. Don Killer was a regular Keyser Sozé, a scary rumor to keep the apes and lizards in line. Fox only rolled his eyes, when another group of fighters came out behind the droids. Nothing was ever easy, that's for darn sure.

The two Arwings looped about, opening fire on their new attackers, clearing out the room with great haste. If only Fox could have anticipated the next defense mechanism for the Core Room, things might have taken a totally different course. The Arwings came to the floor, amidst the shrapnel of smoldering droid hulls, landing on its flat tracks with ease. Fara slipped from her cockpit, as Fox opened his own canopy, darting over the side of the fighter, dropping to the floor.

The two lock their gaze for a moment and a reassuring smile was offered from the sandy furred fennec. McCloud opened his Nova loading hatch, pulling one of the tube-shaped bombs from its place of rest. Closing the hatch behind him, Fara did the same, carrying the heavy cylinder towards the Core maintenance terminal underneath the massive light pillar. Fox jerked his head, motioning for her to follow.

The two pilots carried their Nova Bombs across the room, passed the smoking debris from the previous air battle, until they reached the foundation of the Core. Fox placed his bomb upon the floor at his feet, taking out a blaster and changing the settings. Making the gun so its beam would fire a tight, concentrated burst at high, constant power, he aimed the barrel into the Core's massive base, beginning to cut his way into the side of the maintenance terminal.

Once there was a large hole, he kicked the metallic panel inwards, and lifted his bomb up onto his shoulders, heaving it into the crudely cut hole. He reached in and armed the bomb for a timed countdown, holding up both paws to show Fara the number "8" with his fingers. She nodded and set her own bomb to explode in 8 minutes, then followed Fox's last action, shoving the heavy metallic weapon into the hole at the base of the massive Energy Core.

"All right! Once I arm them from the remote control, they'll start timing down from 8 minutes!" Fox shouted over the thrumming sound of the Energy Core they stood so closely to. Fara gave the thumbs up, when suddenly the room began to shake violently.

"Fox! You think the guys set off the Planet buster?" Fara exclaimed, hoping that it wasn't some sort of last ditch effort to destroy Venom, at the expense of the Team's life.

Before Fox could answer, they both came to the horror-filled realization of what was going on. The wall at the far end of the massive room was beginning to move, closing in. The size of the room was shrinking, pushing the shrapnel of the droids up against the force field in front of the Core, crushing it for waste recycling. Among the droid debris getting trashed was two Arwing Fighters, Fox and Fara's ride home. They watched in panic as their fighters were destroyed like garbage.

An angry McCloud pounded his right fist into his left palm, watching his Arwing get crushed into scrap. Once the room was finally cleared, and the wall was pressed flush up against the force field, it began to return to its normal position, leaving an empty floor and a four foot wall of scrap metal in front of the force field. Only flesh and blood could walk through it. For a fighter hull, it was like being pushed up against a stationary wall. The same rule applied for energy displacement bolts, like blaster-fire. Now they were stranded.

Fara began pacing. Her thoughts quickly turned to how they could hijack a pair of enemy fighters to make their escape. It was then that something struck her in the torso. Whatever the object was, it was very tiny but extremely painful. Her paw reached for her stomach, and felt something wet. Stealing a glance down at the pad of her palm, she realized she was looking at a light coating of blood.

She'd been shot.

Following the path that the bullet would have taken to hit her, she saw the attacker from across the room, standing alone, with their singular weapon. It fired again, this time striking Fox, besides her. Through the pain of the shot, she had to wonder to herself, how a bullet could penetrate the force field when only organic tissue could pass through it before now.

The tip of her index felt something lumpy in the wound of her stomach. She pushed her finger inward, gripping the shell and easing it from her flesh. A rubber bullet. To break the skin at such a distance would require a very high power rifle. Suddenly things began to get blurry. She tried to use rational thinking again but her mind grew cloudy. Was the rubber bullet coated with some sort of toxin?

Fara's head turned, her gaze falling upon Fox, who struggled the same way, watching as he began to stumble, fighting to stay on his feet. His balance was suddenly pulled out from underneath of him, and he swayed forward, careening into her, until both toppled over, unable to move. Fox's entire body felt paralyzed. Everything was numb from his neck down and his mind was fogging up. His eyelids felt sixty pounds. The gunman across the room began to approach...

Somewhere in the distant background, Fox heard someone speak, "Say hello to daddy for us. We'll use your team to trade Corneria for our captured pilots. But you two have been too much trouble. You two get a free trip..." his words became unintelligible after that.

Everything faded to black. Fox was comfortably numb. His mind slipped into the depths of unconsciousness... A dream-free state of deep relaxation. He could hear the deafening sound of his heart beating, and then the last vestiges of thought faded. Silence.

Before Fox's eyes opened, he thought to use his military and academy training, clearing his mind and concentrating on his condition first. He was laying on something flat and could feel that his shirt and shoes had been completely removed. A wiggle of his brow and ears told him that the silver headset he always wore was missing as well.

He shifted his wrists and ankles just slightly, then gave a wiggle of his tail. Surprisingly, there were no restraints. His left eye eased open, peering around to take in his surroundings. He was alone. Sitting up quickly, he realized a blanket was pulled up across his body and a few suction cupped things with wires attached were pressed to his chest.

Whipping the blanket from his body and grabbing a fist full of wires and tugging them from his body, the vulpine swung his legs out over the side of the bed and slipped down to his feet. He was in some sort of medical bay and Fara was nowhere to be seen. His eyes scanned along the walls until he found a scalpel. Quickly, Fox seized the tool and moved to the doorway, peeking out into the hallway.

He wasn't sure the size of the ship he was on, but it didn't look overly Venomian. The lights weren't set for lizard's eyes and the room was at a comfortable temperature. Not to mention no guards in a medical bay? That was just suicide on behalf of the enemy. They must have miscalculated whatever it is they gave him to stay unconscious.

His head-comm. unit sat on a table near the doorway. Fox snatched it up and glanced out the doorway, peering from left to right. After a moment he fastened the radio unit to his head, but there was no reception with which to contact anyone.

Moving out from the bay, he placed his back firmly up against the wall, keeping the scalpel tightly secured in his right paw. Slinking along the hallway, his eyes stayed narrow and his breathing steady, as if waiting for something to jump up in front of him. The hallway was silent but at the far end, Fox saw the back end of a green being, half his height, passing through an intersection. He quickly dipped back behind the corner, peering out into the now-empty hallway again.

His eyes and his ribs ached, as well as the wound in his chest, below his collarbone. He remembered taking a bullet but having been shot before a few years ago, he knew this was far different. Maybe it was a tranq-dart. The stealthy vulpine continued to tiptoe down the hall, peering around the next corner. A sign read "main bridge". Jackpot.

Whoever the Executive Officer of the deck was, that's who Fox would use as a hostage. Fox glanced back behind himself, to make sure the short little green guy wasn't coming back. Lizard maybe? Fox didn't get a good look, but he was almost positive he didn't see a tail. Odd for a lizard. Regardless, no signs of life, now. Perhaps he was on some sort of transport ship... an understaffed one from the looks of things.

His eyes narrowed and his right paw tightened around the scalpel as he headed through the sliding doors that opened up to the bridge. To his surprise, it was empty, minus some lanky looking robotic contraption over by the view screen. No way he was going to combat that thing with a scalpel. The thing began to swivel at the waist, until it was looking straight at him, standing there in the doorway. Crap.

"That's unlike you, to walk around in a simple pair of trousers, Fox." The machine lifted it's left hand, pointing directly at the pilot, somewhat motioning to the fact he only wore a pair of sweat pants. For the first time he really noticed he wasn't even wearing his old uniform pants. Prisoner garb, maybe? Not only that, but the damn thing called him by his first name!

Fox eased his right paw behind his back, putting the medical knife out of sight. "Where's Fara Phoenix?"

"Fara Phoenix? I'm sorry; I don't recall any name by that on board." The machine's reply had... a slight touch of emotion behind it... odd.

"Fara _PHOENIX_. Daughter of the CEO of the Spaceship Magnate Corporation. Ring any damned bells?"

"Ah," The machine spun away, facing a computerized console, beginning to type, much to Fox's amazement. "She passed away during a scheduled training exercise, when Corneria came under attack in the early skirmishes against Venom. Cause of death, ION Cannon fire. It is thought she may have underestimated the machine, attacking it without backup."

Fox's eyes went wide. Was this a joke? A coincidence? "When?"

"Over one decade ago. Do you require the star date?" the machine replied.

"You're full of shit," Fox growled softly, half surprised by his own use of language, "I was her backup and I saved her myself."

"No," the thing said, "You were in the Cornerian brig, charges were filed against you for disruption of a private military installation, angry that your father was reported KIA in a Venom mission run."

Fox came to the immediate conclusion that this thing had it's information either wrong, or it was lying to him on purpose. That's when it happened. The double doors slid open behind him. Fox whirled around, wrapping his embrace around the being that came up behind him, spinning it about and putting the scalpel up to their throat without so much as a blink.

His eyes moved down his muzzle, to see who it was he had captured... An oddly blue-furred vixen struggled in his grip for a moment before a paw went to his sweat pants and tugged the drawstring so tight that he could almost instantly feel circulation coming to a halt and his legs beginning to grow numb.

McCloud tightened the scalpel under the vixen's throat, but not enough to cut the flesh. Yet. "What ship is this?" He hissed.

"GreatFox and you're not a prisoner of war, so let go, ya lug," She grunted, rolling her eyes.

"Ex_cuse_ me?" Fox said.

"I said get off. Geeze," She said with a chuckle, adding, "Falco's right, you really are a chowder head. Yanno, your doppelganger is much more courteous to women." The grip around her throat loosened and the knife moved away from her throat, cautiously.

Suddenly Krystal reached back, behind his head, leaning forward and flipping him onto his back. The scalpel landed on the floor, the blade snapping in half where it stuck half way into the deck. The handle began to roll across the floor, stopping by the commanding officer's chair. The woman folded her arms with a pleased look on her maw. "Anything else, Fox's brother?"

"ExCUSE me? Fox's _brother_? What is this, some sort of joke?" Fox growled, slowly getting back to his feet.

"What IS your problem, yes you look like Fox McCloud, you've got nearly the same DNA in your blood from the sample we took, you even have the same scent, but you're sure as hell not Fox," She said back.

"No, Fox McCloud Junior is exactly who I am."

"Junior?" She asked, raising her brows. She surely didn't recall Fox's name being James. Her head tilted slightly, giving him the woman's stare. McCloud looked down, to cutely avoid the look.

"By the Goddess, you even react the same. Let's get you to talk to Fox," She said, waving for him to follow her.

"I am Fox!" He protested.

"Will you JUST follow me? I'm Krystal, by the way. C'mon." She walked out through the door, turning her back to him, fluffing her tail up into the air, then relaxing it. Fox glanced back at the robot who, to his slight amusement, shrugged at him. Odd.

Fox followed the rather attractive, slender blue vixen down the hall, up a ramped corridor and stopped besides her, in front of an office door. She waved her paw in front of a small square indicator which lit up, just to the right of the door's frame. The door slide open and she walked inside. Fox, still dressed in Medical issue sweat pants, followed her into the room. His eyes quickly scouted the room, taking in the surroundings. Cozy but somewhat his style, to be sure.

The chair by the window, behind a desk began to turn around, and suddenly Fox was looking into a mirror. Minus his garment, which was obviously different, but very much Fox's off-duty style of dress code. All right, maybe this wasn't a trick. Maybe he was just delusional. But the important question had to come first.

"Where is Fara?"

The other Fox tilted his head, leaning forward on his desk. "She woke up twenty minutes ago, so we gave her clothes and let her take a shower. Your shot was apparently quite a winner. It was more difficult to get the toxin out, it nearly killed you. It's good to know you're a fighter."

"Who are you," Junior said, glancing at Krystal again for a moment.

"Fox McCloud, son of James McCloud, who are you?"

"Fox McCloud Junior, son of Fox McCloud Senior. What the hell is going on here?"

The door opened once more, Falco Lombardi stepping in behind Krystal. "Good lord," he muttered, "Slippy wasn't bullshitting, there really are two Fox McClouds."

Both Foxes turned to face Lombardi, saying his name out loud simultaneously. "Falco?"

"Geeze Laweeze; Have mercy, what?" Lombardi grunted. "Was I not supposed to be in here or something? Do I have to answer to BOTH of you?"

Fox, sitting in the chair behind the desk lifted his paw, "Quiet, man. We have a ton to figure out. This guy could be a cloned impostor sent from Andross to try and destroy us or something," he explained. Falco stopped by the doorway, leaning against the wall, with his arms folded.

"Say what?" McCloud Junior's eyes narrowed, gazing to each of the three members of the room. "Do as you will try to do with me, but if you even so-much-as-touch Fara... You'll have problems."

"I don't know," Krystal said thoughtfully.

"What's on your mind," the seated commander asked.

"If he was a cloned impostor, don't you think his DNA would be a perfect match?" she asked softly.

Lombardi shook his head. "True, but not if Andross tried to add a little something so that his Fox would have an advantage over our Fox," Falco replied.

Finally, Fox shook his head, looking at the Juniorized Impostor. He stood up from behind his desk and walked about it, approaching the other Fox McCloud. "No, we're not gonna kill him or anything. Who knows, maybe he can help. I've always said I can't carry the team alone, while you were missing in action, Falco. Who knows, Krystal found the obituary of Fara Phoenix in the archives and she's in the shower right now. Maybe... who knows, let's not jump to conclusions yet," Fox said.

"Why don't you just ask me where I came from," Junior said, running his fingers through the short, tousled fur upon his head.

"Why don't you just offer it," Falco shot back, quickly.

"Why don't you just take your feathers-for-brains and go for a long walk down a short pier," Junior replied with a smirk.

"Enough boys!" Krystal said with a sigh. "We'll never get anywhere with you two bickering like you always... egh. Never mind," She added, after realizing that it wasn't Fox and Falco fighting, but Falco and the imposter, Fox McCloud -_Junior-_. Things made so very little sense. The Avian thumbed his sunshades from off of his forehead, rubbing the lenses against his shirt. His tightly-made head wrap had pushed the blue feathers upon his head up into a near- Mohawk, which had Junior McCloud casting odd looks at him from time to time, during the conversation.

Finally, Falco couldn't take it anymore and uttered, "What?" to the vulpine pilot.

"It's just... Falco doesn't look like you where I came from. I mean, he does, but he doesn't dress like that... any more."

"Eh," Falco shrugged lightly, "I took a hiatus from this fashion.. for a while. But I found some of my old things when I went on my..ah... vacation, a bit back."

"A hiatus...?" Fox said, looking surprised that Falco used a fairly large word.

"Yeah, Einstein, a freakin' _hiatus_. Is that such a big deal, I said somethin' with more than two syllables?"

"Why, Falco," Fox said, from besides his desk, "Don't get started on that stuff, we all know you're capable of four syllable words, you speak every day."

"Exactly," Falco said with a snide smirk.

"Like Masturbation, for example," Fox added, approaching his doppelganger with a light chuckle. It got a giggle out of Krystal who tried to bite her tongue, to stay serious about the situation. Meanwhile, Fox approached Junior and the two looked one another over in silence for a moment. "I don't know why but something tells me we should trust him, and I think I have a pretty good judge of character." Fox ran his fingers back through the thick white stripe of fur that ran over his head, between his ears.

Meanwhile, Fox Junior was wondering why he didn't have his own white stripe of fur upon his head, and was slightly reluctant to take his metallic helmet off. It was the one distinguishing feature that separated them. Oh he'd show that bit soon, just... now wasn't the right time to talk about their physical difference. "We need nicknames to differentiate between the two of us," he said, thoughtfully.

"Well," The nearly identical Fox said with a grunt. "I suppose you should be Junior, and I guess you can just call me... Mac?"

The thought of someone calling him by that despised nickname, even by himself, resulted in a Smirk. Junior McCloud shook his head with a sigh. "MUST we use that ... idiotic name?"

"Don't like it?" Fox asked his twin. "No, not really," came the reply.

"Something wrong with being your father's son?" Falco spit out, out of the blue.

"Good grief," Fox Junior uttered under his breath. "Even here," he continued, "You're a moron sometimes."

Falco's eyes went wide. "You're telling me there is another... me? Where you come from?" Fox nodded to the Avian's question. The difference between THIS Falco, and the Falco that Fox Junior knew... was that his Falco had gone through different things in life. Working hard to get through the Academy, then becoming a hated bandit, hiding out on Papetoon... and finally going through an unreal ordeal, learning to hold his tongue at racism and eventual fanboyisim... which made him a little less Flashy than this character.

"And as far as calling me a moron," Falco added, "Blow it outcher furry little butt, _JUNIOR_." Yeah, alright, they were awfully similar, it's just that his Falco, back where he'd come from, was a little more mature, from going through some harsher times in life.

"How did you guys meet, Mac?" Fox asked of the avian and vulpine, standing together.

The two looked at one another, before the indigenous McCloud replied, "Childhood friends, really. How long have you known the lady we found you with?"

"Fara Phoenix?" Fox Junior chuckled softly, "We're engaged. It's kinda awkward because we were team members first. It sorta just... ah.. happened, really. I've known her for about 8 years now. She's one of the best pilots I know. As far as how I met Falco where I came from, he was a street thug and I was walking home from the Academy one day, and he approached me, looking to see how he could get himself a uniform like mine. He wanted to get rid of his street speeder and trade it in for a pilot's license, more or less. I took pitty on his situation and poverty and respected his wish to clean up and get himself into the academy... so I helped him to get started; he graduated a year after I did, second in his class." Junior sighed fondly, recalling the memory of how he met one of his most trusted friends.

"I find it odd," Krystal started, rubbing the backside of her head, "That you are nearly both identical, and yet you both apparently lead far different lives. Do you know Peppy and Slippy, too?"

Fox Junior nodded. "They're my team mates. Peppy is close to retirement. I'd say he's got another year in him, for flying. I'm not sure what we're gonna do when he settles down with Annie."

"Who... is Annie?" Mac asked, a slight look of confusion. Did this guy's Peppy have a girl?

"Well," Junior chuckled, assuming that was different as well, "Peppy is married."

"Married?" Both Falco and Krystal said in unison. "Peppy is married?" Falco said with a soft chuckle. "Maybe tha's why he's in good enough shape to fly where you come from... he was getting laid!"

"Falco..!" Krystal scolded.

"Well," Mac said, gesturing to his crew to quiet down, "Slippy stopped flying for a while, to work Corneria Weapons detail, when we were kinda starved for cash, but he's getting himself back into a cockpit again, and Krystal here is replacing OUR Peppy, who we just refer to... as old timer. He was my dad's wingman, but he just.. kinda... sleeps a lot now. That reminds me, did Fox McCloud Senior ever fly with a guy named Pigma Dengar?"

"Ah... no, not that I know of," Junior said thoughtfully. "Peppy flew with dad a little, here and there, but was spending the weekend with his at-the-time Fiancé, when dad went on that solo mission with that damn gravity bomb. Peppy practically raised me, out on Papetoon, from after I had graduated from the Academy at 16, up to a month before my 19th birthday."

"You... graduated from the AirForce Academy at 16?" Fox's brow lifted.

"Yeah, 'gifted and talented teens program' got me in. Dad had me doing Gravity training and stuff, by 12, so... I was ace'n the training courses by 14 and when dad disappeared when I was 15, I kept my mouth shut. But one day, General Pepper slipped up and mentioned how it was that Dad was killed. Same jerk that killed mom, so I went off. I didn't just go off, I stole a fighter with the intent of killing the freakin' ape. I was still a minor, 16 years old, but you just... don't steal government M-Class fighter craft. They were pissed. Prime Minister said it was the government's job to find an orphaned pilot in the gifted and talented flight school class... new parents. I was young and dumb, so I told the Prime Minister that I would steal another fighter if given the chance and hunt down Andross, myself. Luckily, Peppy dragged me off to Papetoon where we raided Imperial scowls and freighters, and gave all the loot to the poverty-stricken public. General Pepper needed guinea pigs to fly a prototype fighter that hadn't been ...really... tested... in battle. We thought it sounded like a good offer, experimental or not, and with the promise of a pardon, we went to work... ultimately we got ourselves into the Special Operations division and the rest is history," Fox Junior explained.

"Jeeze, man. Other than Andross causing the death of my parents, our lives are completely different. Even the way dad got himself killed was different." Mac shook his head, rubbing his chin quietly. "Anyhow, when we found your floating capsule, you were nearly out of breathing air, and you were both out cold. We were on our way to investigate the rip in a wormhole. General Pepper's gonna pay us good if we figure out what happened and find a threat to eliminate," Mac said, going back to his desk and sitting down behind it.

"Is the mercenary life treating you good?" Junior inquired with thoughtful curiosity.

"It has its ups and downs," Mac replied.

"I see. Anyhow, back to my original question, where is Fara?" The foreign Fox asked, folding his arms to mirror Falco.

"She's probably ambling around GreatFox or in the observatory or Rec-Room. You're free to go look for her, but I suggest you go find some clothes," Mac said with a chuckle. "My room is down the hall on the left, from here. If you keep going straight, you'll get to the main hallway that takes you to the Bridge, Medical bay, the flight deck and engineering. Go get dressed."

Fox Junior nodded and turned to leave, waiting for the doors to part before passing through them. Krystal followed him out, leaving Falco and James' son to converse over what was going on and just how strange the entire situation was.

"Hey," Krystal said as the two walked towards Fox's room. "No more knife play, all right? If you need any help finding anything, just ask."

"Yeah, I can't smell my own scent as easily, so show me where this room is," Junior muttered. Krystal led him down the hall, making a left at an intersection then stopping at a door on the left-hand side. She swiped her paw over the sensor on the wall again and the door slid open. Leading Fox inside, she meandered about the room, picking out matching clothes for Fox to wear, handing them to him.

"Get dressed, Fox," She said, minding his sensitivity to the word Junior. He smiled slightly and nodded, turning to strip off the sweat pants.

"OH goodness, wait until I leave at least. I know you guys are the same person and all but good heavens, Fox." However, Krystal did notice that he seemed to be a bit more muscular and the build of his physique was different. The Fox McCloud indigenous to this dimension had the body of a physical laborer. This Fox Junior guy looked like he spent his time in a military gym. His stomach was tighter, his arms and legs weren't as muscular but the man's shoulders were broader and his upper chest was slightly more bulky.

Both Fox McCloud's were in excellent physical condition, but by looking at Junior, she could tell that he never jogged the surface of a Planet, the way her Fox had to run around Dinosaur Planet. Their builds were simply different, leaving her to wonder who could overpower the other. She turned her head, facing the door. Apparently this Fox wasn't concerned with comfort or stripping in front of a team mate, he just wanted to quickly change his clothes and find his Fara.

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled, seeing that he was having a bit of trouble. "What's wrong?"

"They're a little loose around the waist and a little tight around the shoulders," He admitted sourly.

"Fox has his clothes tailored to his fit. I'm willing to bet you spend time in a military Gym, don't you?" She asked.

"Yeah why?"

"My Fox has never seen a military Gym. Your lifestyles are different; so, too, is the build of your body slightly different. You guys should spar later on, I'd be interested to see how it would go," She added with a giggle.

"You're weird. I've never even seen any blue vixens on Corneria or Papetoon before," He replied.

"Papetoon?" She asked.

"Yeah, it's just outside of the Asteroid belt. Kinda the color of dirt, because a lot of it is simply that... dirt. Good lot of people, though," Junior said.

"Oh, they call it Katina, here. But it sounds like the exact same place. I'm not from Corneria or Katina. I'm from Cerinia, but the planet... well, I won't talk about it, but it's not from Lylat. In fact, I'm curious now, is Corneria called Corneria, where you come from?"

"Yeah," he replied, stuffing his paws into the pockets before smirking. "Your Merc- er, boyfriend has pretty deep pockets. His own ship, apparently makes more money than some large companies. So what kinda fighters does he have?"

"C'mon, I'll show you. After having a conversation with her, I have a feeling she's probably down there looking at the Arwings as we speak. Let's go," Krystal exclaimed, turning to the door and walking out. Behind her, Fox Junior was adjusting the garment which was still tight at his shoulders and loose at his hips and waist.

"These are uncomfortable as can be, can't we find something else?"

"Well you've got your choice," chided the blue vixen as they walked. "You can wear one of my sun dresses or some of Falco's sweat pants. But you'd have to cuff 'em, he's taller than you. I've never seen anyone cuff sweat pants, though. Then again, two years ago, I'd never seen Sweat pants before, either. So, to each his own."

"I've got a better idea," Fox said.

"What's that?"

"Which way is Peppy's quarters and where can I find him?" Junior asked.

"Let me see," she said, walking to a computer terminal in the wall. "Computer, locate all registered bio-signs onboard," she told it, in a clear voice.

"Falco Lombardi is in room A104 - Captains' general Office, Fox McCloud is in room A104 - Captains' general Office; Fox McCloud is in hallway b2 - Level1, Krystal of Cerinia is in Hallway B2 - Level1, Peppy Hare is in A106 - his quarters, Slippy Toad is in E102 - Main Flight Bay, Unknown / Unregistered person is in E102 - Main Flight Bay." The computer's dull, monotone voice brought a gleeful grin to Krystal's maw at hearing the Computer run down the roster, alphabetically, listing Fox twice.

"Well, your bio-signs are similar enough to Fox McCloud...rather, Mac, that it fooled the ship's computer!" she announced in amusement.

"Indeed," he said, pushing his paws back into the pockets which were deeper than he was used to.

"All right, let's go see Peppy. This way," she added, motioning for him to follow suite. Once they arrived at Peppy's room, she pressed the doorbell button on the panel, waiting for a reply.

"It's open," came the reply and with that, the two walked in, the doors shutting behind them. Peppy approached the group, offering a knowing smile to Junior and a paw to shake. "Peppy Hare. An interesting way to remake your acquaintance Fox McCloud Junior," He said in a dialect that was just a touch more country than Fox Junior was used to. It actually surprised him, more or less.

Fox shook the hare's paw and asked, "I was really curious if Mister James had any clothing, shirts preferably, in your possession. I was hoping one might fit," He said.

"Well, yes. Actually, I do. Our Fox's clothes don't fit you?" Peppy asked.

"Loose in the waist, tight in the shoulders," Junior admitted, almost as if he was embarrassed.

"Well, I heard you were military, which means you do Physical Training every morning. It's quite understandable. I'm willing to wager James' clothes would fit you, he was Military as well. Let me see what I have," The aging hare said, pushing his glasses further up his nose. He walked into his bedroom, leaving Junior and Krystal to wait in the living room.

When he returned, he was holding one of the four original James McCloud uniforms and a white T-shirt. Fox looked it over, noticing how it was slightly different in the threading and ranking than his own father's uniform. Fox Senior was a lead pilot in a fleet of squadrons, as well as a solo-test pilot and reconnaissance specialist.

At second look, their rank was the same, by number, but Fox Senior was an officer. James was high up on the enlisted scale, as the Wing Commander of the StarFox attack squadron, placing Fox Senior as a Captain and James at E-7, high up in the enlisted scale. It was so odd seeing how the same man was so different in two dimensions, where many things were the same but some important details were different.

Fox carried the uniform with reverence, heading into the bathroom. When he emerged, Peppy's jaw dropped. He held his paw up, then went into his bedroom again. When he returned, he asked Fox to wear a pair of aviator glasses.

With his silver head-communicator, Fox looked identical to James in every way possible, down to the last whisker. Peppy stumbled for words for a moment, seeing a ghost of his best friend, before clearing his throat, adding, "I need to ask Fox permission. These things belong to his father, after all. James didn't have the white stripe of head fur between his ears, that's something our Fox got from his maternal grandparents. Hold on." Obviously Peppy had seen this Fox without his headset, before Junior woke up in the medical ward.

Peppy turned to his living room comm-panel and dialed into Fox's ready room. "Hey, Fox. Look, the other Fox doesn't fit into your clothes. Difference between doing Physical Training every day, I guess. But P.T. aside, we thought maybe he'd fit in James' clothes a little better, but I wanted your consent, first."

"Sure, Pep. How does he look?" Mac asked, over the communicator. Peppy stepped aside, letting McCloud see his doppelganger in the background. Even Fox had to gasp at the perfectly uncanny resemblance. If he did some pushups and sit-ups and dyed his head fur, there was no doubt he would probably look as much like his father as this guy does. Fox found himself biting his lower lip. He could only wonder how Peppy was feeling, having fought alongside of the pilot until the man's death. The aviator glasses sealed the deal, along with the silver headset.

"Mother Gaia," Mac muttered. Fox felt partially jealous, knowing those uniforms didn't fit him well. He felt partially jealous about the sunshades too, but he knew Peppy only added them to see how it would look. When he finally caught his breath, he said, "Just keep the glasses in a safe place. I don't want anything to happen to them. Fox Junior, you may borrow those until we find a way to get you home. Then I want'em back, all right?"

"Fair enough, Mac. I'm honored to wear this uniform, if it makes any difference."

"You should be. When you see Slippy, guys, send him up here. Falco and I have decided to try and work on a way to get Fox and Fara back home and get some answers. We might need Slippy and his Beltino Toad on this one," The McCloud on the screen said.

"I think he's giving Fara the fighter bay tour, I'll send him up when I get down there," Krystal said with a soft smile.

"Thank you, Angel," Mac replied.

"You're welcome, Love. All right, Fox Junior, let's go." She then turned to Peppy, adding, "Thank you, Peppy. I'll come back later for Fox's clothes, in the bathroom. You're a peach!"

"Any time, Krystal. Always glad to be a help," said Peppy, turning to head back into his bedroom. Fox and Krystal saw their way out, heading for the elevator at the end of the hallway, heading for the Flight Deck.

Downstairs, Slippy and Fara were standing on the catwalk, directly above where the fighters were suspended, mounted to their launch dock. By this time, they had gone from talking about the fighters and Land-master tanks to talking about the stuttering speech impediment the other Slippy Toad had, over in Fara's dimension.

"But see, I was born as twins, but my brother didn't live passed childbirth," Slippy explained.

"See," Fara said, "That's exactly what happened to our Slippy. His voice is deeper, more like a croaking rumble, but he stutters when he's speaking. He's not as charismatic, but he does still have a fairly outgoing personality. He wears a necklace that's more of a utility belt than a fashion statement. And," Fara paused. "He's not as good at building weapons and such, but he is just as skilled when it comes to putting together fighters and doing engineering work," She added.

"My mother had been in a car accident," Slippy's slightly higher pitched voice squeaked out, "And the paramedics said that she was endanger of losing us both, so they gave her a Cesarean Section. The one they pulled first was me, by the time they went back for the other, he had died." Slippy then paused. "You don't think that in your dimension, the paramedics pulled the other one out first and... I died... leaving my father to name the survivor the same name... do you?"

Fara frowned, "It's a tragic accident, no matter how you look at it, but for anyone who lost a sibling in child birth, it might give them hope to know that their sibling might have survived and is healthy, somewhere else in the universe," She said somewhat optimistically.

"I wish I could meet him. My brother," Slippy said.

Fara sighed, adding, "Well if we don't get back there soon, I don't know what will happen to them. Venom probably exchanged them for the release of their prisoners but I don't wanna think about it, just incase something more sinister happens to them."

"I understand. We'll find a way to get you home quickly. I don't want anything to happen to my brother," Slippy said, looking dejected at the thought of not being able to meet his twin.

"Anything is possible," Fox Junior said as he and Krystal approached the group. "Personally, I think Corneria is going to reject a trade off and Heaven only knows what they'll do with our boys."

"You're quite the optimist," Fara scolded him, after seeing how emotional the thought of knowing his brother survived somewhere, made Slippy feel.

"I want to get back and try to save my boys, don't think that's not my first priority," Fox said flatly. "The thing is, the guys upstairs need Slippy, here, and his brains. They're gonna get Beltino involved and try and figure a way back up through the hole before it closes, or see if they can't plot a course back through an alternative black hole, originating here, or however they have to do it."

Slippy nodded, turning to shake Fara's paw before heading off the catwalk, and out of the flight bay. Krystal and Fara shook hands once more, leaving the women and Fox standing over the Arwings in silence. Krystal stayed quiet out of reverence for a moment, to give them a second together before she scanned their minds, seeing their mood was slightly deteriorating. She cleared her throat, finally breaking the silence to uplift their moods.

"Well, I guess Slippy gave Fara the tour, but as you guys can see, the Arwings here are ready to go at a moments notice and the spare Arwings are over in that mechanical beast," She said, pointing to the lift on the other end of the bay. "And the Land-Master tanks are underneath and over there is the Blue Marine, our mini-attack submarine. It's been retired, though. They used it on Aquais and even put it into use on Zoness to clean up the area, after the Lylat Wars concluded. But it's been in retirement since before I met Mac."

"Mac?" Fara asked, tilting her head.

"What we've decided to call My Fox, so there's no confusion," Krystal replied.

"So," Fara said, turning to Fox, putting her paws on her hips, "Where did you get those handsome threads? The name on the chest is right but the rank and the bordering colors are all wrong."

"They belonged to Fox's father, James McCloud," Fox said respectfully, putting his paws into the pockets, which were a comfortable depth, worthy of a respectable military man.

"I like you're Arwings," Fara said, turning to Krystal.

"Yeah," Fox agreed, "They're sleeker and more stylish than the military ones. But you know the military... if it works, don't change or alter it. I like the upgrades and modifications you guys did to the body."

"They're mostly things Slippy and his family did for us," Krystal said. "The rest was done by corporate experts after the paycheck from the Dinosaur Planet mission. It's where I met Fox," she added with a knowing smile. Fara felt a little awkward, but reminded herself silently, that the two Foxes were different. She gave Krystal a smile in return, as if they were supposed to understand where the other was coming from, dating their own version of the same man or something. In reality, it was simply weird for Fara. She didn't like to feel like she was sharing what she thought was especially reserved for her. It was weird knowing another woman knew Fox intimately... knew his gestures and his touch.

Fox slipped his paw into Fara's own, comfortingly, which secretly alleviated her heart just a bit. Knowing eyes of swirling emerald met hers and she felt relief. From what she gathered, she needed to know this other Fox McCloud to determine if they were both the same or simply similar.

"Fox," she said with a sweet smile, "I was wondering if I could go with Slippy and help to see if there's any way we can get back the way we came?"

"Well of course!" Fox Junior said, reaching to scritch his claws under her chin, playfully, with his free hand. He drew her paw to his lips, kissing her knuckles then gave her a gentle pat on the rear. "Maybe Krystal here, will be kind enough to let me fly one of these Arwings?"

"Well, I think Fox ...er... Mac, wants to be absolutely sure it's ruled out that you two aren't clones or spies of some sort, first. But I'm sure we could arrange something, when we get back to Corneria for some medical tests," she said.

"Eh," Fox frowned. He hated not being trusted, especially by his own crew. Maybe he was a touch more naive than this Fox and his crew, but if they showed up on his side, he'd have trusted them. "Ah well. All right, Fara. Go ahead and see if you can make heads or tails of any of this," he added, before sharing a quick kiss with the departing fennec.

Once she was gone, Krystal turned to him and frowned slightly. Her frumpy demeanor accented by the jutting of her lower lip. "Fara doesn't seem to take well to me. I've not been able to ascertain some of the oddly complex emotions of Lylat women. I have nothing to be jealous of and can't figure out why she looks at me in such a way," She explained, running her fingers back through her bangs.

"It's not that she doesn't like you. Its weird knowing there's a woman around who dates Fox McCloud and knows me as well as she does. She feels what her and I have is special, sacred. Now it feels imitated," he said with a thoughtful shrug.

"You guys are incredibly different," Krystal said, shaking her head. "You're more like brothers than you are the same man. You even have different distinguishing features. Your build is fairly close to the same but as we found earlier, it's not perfectly identical. You're also better spoken with your manners, regardless of putting a knife to a random girl's throat," she chided with a grin.

"And he's more...?"

"Raw," she said. "Intensely raw. It's a quality I love about him. I'm not saying you sugar coat things in retrospect. No, by all means, you're very to-the-point. But you're pleasant. You're reverent. You're mindful and respectful and trained and keep your back straight and don't slouch when you sit. My Fox is more instinctive, shrewd, and will be the first to grouse when he doesn't get paid. I suppose," Krystal trailed off then grinned, "Military men just aren't my style."

"Ah," Fox said with a chuckle, "I see now. I'm too refined and officer-like. You want a man who's more... real? Exciting?"

"I guess. My Fox is more natural. You've been molded," She said, being blunt.

Junior nodded cautiously. "Oh. All right, I see what you mean. But when Fara sees the difference between us, she'll know that she has me and my quirks all to herself and you have him and his quirks to yourself. So it works."

"Wonderful!" Krystal said with a chuckle. "Let's go see what's going on upstairs," She added, motioning for him to follow back up to the elevator.

(next up: )

Chapter 3: StarFox ...Armada?

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	2. Chapter 3

(If Tom Cruise can have a sex scene in every PG-13 rated movie, without getting into the whole nudity / detail of the situation, then so can I. Here we see our "pure of heart" Krystal being overly nice to Fara but the two of them learn what it's like to share a man, in so many ways. Please read and review to your heart's content. Duely noted, on my first review, I've made sure that Lotus WordPro snags the spelling errors. Thanks for reading, enjoy the story, it's about to pick up in pace as I get further into it. I have a lot of plans for this! Thanks to Chris who prefers to see a story like this written, due to his preference in Fox being with Fara, you're a good friend!)

Chapter 3: StarFox ...Armada?

Slippy paced the floor. Rob64 was standing against the back wall of the office, and Beltino Toad was on the big screen monitor on the wall. Fara was standing in the middle of the room, a few pages of paper under her left arm and an Arwing model in her right paw. A hologram was running through the middle of the room, while Fara held the Model in the center of the 3-dimensional video stream.

Krystal and Fox Junior stepped into the room, causing Beltino to glance up with surprise. "Well now, Fox! I see what you mean!" Fara took the model from out of the holographic video stream and set it on the table for a moment.

"Yeah," Mac said, glancing back to his other self. "Hey, M.J., how's it going? See the rest of the ship?"

"MJ? That's a new one," Fox Junior said, giving the letters some thought. It only took a moment to realize that Mac was referring to him as McCloud Junior, or _MJ_ for short. He cracked a slight grin and approached the rest of the group, coming to stand near the desk a few feet away from Fara, looking around the room. "I wouldn't think we'd get very far without a Team of Scientists, but it seems like you guys are sitting here giving it 100. That's good to see," He said with a hopeful smile.

"Yes sir, Captain, Sir," Fox said to his foreign-self. Falco ran his fingers back through the feathers propped up over his brow by the headband and grinned at his leader for giving his other half a bit of grief about being a military man.

"Part of me really wants to know one thing," Beltino said, rubbing his chin. "I want to know if there's a reason you guys came to town," he added in reference to Fox Junior and Fara. He knew it wasn't their decision, but figuring something out might have helped him to decide if there was some sort of otherworldly force behind all of this. He gave a thoughtful smile, looking at the couple from his spot on the view screen "So you guys are engaged?" He said, deciding to change the subject.

"Yeah," Junior said.

But Phoenix had to jump on the subject, it was her favorite topic, after all. "Absolutely! We were set to have our marriage in about 13 months, just saving up for it. I mean, my father offered to help but we want to be able to know we can do it ourselves first. It's a goal that we're achieving together. I'm just glad we're here together, new world or not," Fara said, moving away from the holographic gravity funnel stream. She placed the Model on the table and sat down in a chair in front of the desk, next to her fiancé.

"Well, you guys may be stuck here forever," Fox told his guests, "But the good news is, you're not dead, you're welcome as part of a family and finally, I think you should take an afternoon to visit Mister Phoenix on Corneria. Fara, do you think that would be appropriate?"

"Meet myself here?" She asked. Her head tilted and it became obvious to the rest of the group that no one had explained to her that Fara's doppelganger was dead, here. It was Fox Junior that decided to break the news, although he had a difficult time believing it himself.

He paused and finally broke down to just be up front with her about it. "This Fox, here, was in the brig when Corneria was suffering the earliest attacks. I never ... He never went to Papetoon here, and well," he trailed off for a moment.

"Papetoon?" Fox and Falco asked of the foreign McCloud.

"It seems you call it Katina here," Fox explained, before turning back to Fara. "Anyhow, that Ion Cannon that shot your Arwing down, your anti- gravity sail must not have been enough. The Robot guy over there knows of your obituary. So maybe we could see your father on this side, just ... I guess it would be the most courteous thing we could offer to do for his loss," MJ explained.

"My Heaven," Fara said softly. "We need to find him right away. If he's just like Daddy is on our side, he's probably an emotional wreck, when is my death, here?" To everyone's surprise, not only did she take it well, she was more concerned for how father Phoenix must have been feeling.

Rob64 answered her question quickly. "It will have been 9 years ago, in 38 Cornerian Revolutions."

"Goodness," Fara muttered. "Can we visit him in person?"

The indigenous McCloud nodded in permission. "Yeah, just to avoid confusion, I'll send Slippy with you. While you're on Corneria, you can pick up Beltino and bring him here. We'll need his help," Fox explained, looking to Fara and his Junior version.

Junior smiled at the length these people were going through to help them. "Slippy, I need you to meet me downstairs, when we're ready to go. I'll be back, I think Fara and I need to shower before we meet her parents again for the first time. Where could we go?"

Mac handed the two a pass card and said, "That'll get you into the guest quarters. You guys can share a room, I don't have many guest rooms and I'll need one for Beltino. You guys do share a room right?"

Fara shook her head, "No we're given military quarters. We'll get our own place on base when we get married," She explained.

"Are you against sharing a room now?" Mac asked.

"No. We understand it's going to get cramped," She said with a soft smile. With that, she turned to her Fiancé and took his paw. "All right, let's go get ready. I look forward to bringing a little joy to my father's life again."

"All right, we'll get things set up for when you're ready," Fox said. With that, Fara and Fox Junior left the room to get things ready in their quarters. Mac then turned back to Falco and Slippy, leaving Beltino to twiddle his thumbs on the main screen.

"I trust them, I really do," Fox said before pausing to think of how to tactfully word his next statement. "But.... We can never be too sure. I don't want Slippy to be in any sort of danger so I'm sending a surprise receiving party that they won't detect. If I sent anyone from here, they'd be less likely to try something funny if that was their actual intentions. So I'm going to call Katt Monroe."

"Aww MAN! What the hell, Fox??" Falco groaned. "No offense, she's a cool chick or whatever, but really man! Katt?? All she does is try to hump me, that girl needs to hop up off my nuts, dude," The avian grumbled.

"Dude, you used to date her, she's in love with you. How're you gonna keep a girl waiting for a decade?" Fox shot back with a smirk.

"Keep her waiting? I don't want her to wait, she's my Ex girlfriend. She needs to move on and find a nice feline man. We're just not compatible beyond friendship personality. Trust me Fox," Falco warned, "I loved the sex. I was crazy about her, but it just wasn't right."

Krystal shook her head, adding, "I think it was and you're just not seeing the bigger picture. Remember, mates should have some opposite features. These qualities make the relationship deeper. I don't mean simple differences like, she's got girl parts and you got boy parts. I mean real differences. But accepting these differences and accentuating your similarities will help mates to have a healthy relationship and provide stability and longevity." Krystal tilted her head with a slight smile.

"Thank you Doctor Krystal. You should get yourself a side-job on Love-Line radio," Falco said with a snicker.

"The point is, Falco, you should give your relationship one more try. If it isn't meant to be, then even she'll see it the second time around," Krystal whispered into his ear, patting his cheek.

"Maybe," Falco replied softly, looking down at the ground. "All right, Fox. Go ahead and call her...._Tiger_. Anyways, I'm going to go call her. Where do you want her to intercept the group?"

"Just have her shadow them from around Sol, all the way to Corneria. Then break radio silence when they're between Meteo and Corneria," Fox replied, turning to Krystal and drawing her onto his lap.

"Right," Lombardi said, turning to head to the door. He paused, turning to Slippy and pointed a feathery finger at the frog. "Stay sharp, bud."

"I will, Falco," Slippy said with an appreciative grin. The Avian stepped out of the office, heading to the bridge to contact Katt, leaving Slippy, Fox, Krystal and Slippy's father on the main view screen.

"This is the strangest thing I've ever seen," Slippy said, after a few moments, to break the silence. "They say everyone has a twin out there somewhere, but this is a little crazy, even for some of the things we've encountered so far. I really wouldn't put it passed Andross to try and do that whole cloning thing. I mean, he's never pulled that card but after talking to Fara down in engineering, it sounds like his other half from their universe.... _has_ tried it. On himself, when he was killed by Fox. The whole thing is just... creepy," Slippy continued with a sigh.

"Well, I suppose anything is possible," Krystal reminded him. "Keep an open mind, I don't see any hostility in their eyes. They speak with open hearts and bruised souls. I think they've been through a lot. If Andross was still alive after Dinosaur Planet and pulling a stunt like this, he'd have cloned Fox correctly and wouldn't have given him a clone of a woman who's been dead for nearly 10 years."

"True," Slippy nodded.

"All right, it's settled then," Fox announced, wrapping his arms around Krystal's waist. "They're innocent until proven guilty. So let's treat 'em like family."

"When they return, I want to see you spar the other Fox," Krystal said, changing the subject with a giggle. "See which set of life experiences has made which one of you the stronger fighter or better pilot. Call it.... a science experiment. Just curious, really," She explained, wiggling back onto Fox's lap.

Fox nodded in agreement, nuzzling into Krystal's back, against the nape of her neck. "Well, okay. I don't see a problem in that. Maybe we can put them to work, too. We just need a job. Something to get paid. We could wrap up multiple jobs with two Fox McClouds. Pepper would be shocked as hell and whoever we fight would be surprised to get hit by StarFox on multiple fronts, heh."

Meanwhile, Fox Junior was in the shower. He'd come to like the amenities of the GreatFox, as the ship was obviously designed with most of his favorite features in mind. It was strange. The soap dispenser was right where he felt it should be. The layout was unusually user friendly to him and the shower settings were an easy computerized touch screen built into the wall, lined with shower tiles.

Fara pushed the curtains back, stepping into the shower with him, reaching for the soap and pulling it into her palms. "Turn around, my dear Mister McCloud," she told him, with a soft, tender smile. Fox did so, putting his back to her so that she could lather the soap up and work the soapy caress into his shoulder muscles and down over his back.

The sandy fennec worked her fingertips up his neck, scritching behind his ears to work the soapy film into his fur. Fox churred softly in the back of his throat at the sensual touch of his mate. Something so sweet and so intimate together. A non sexual shower, just their love and touch in a passionate way. It was true, the couple had already decided to make love the night of Fox's proposal, but saved such passionate endeavors for special occasions, until they would be married.

But nearly dying and surviving the impossible in one another's arms was special. Fox turned about, facing her. The hot water came from both ends of the shower, which he definitely liked. The water cascaded over his back, rinsing the soap from his fur, as he embraced her under the simulated waterfall, placing his lips to her own.

Her arms wrapped about his body, furry digits sliding up the backside of his head, drawing his head close, so their mouths came together in a loving kiss. She was so beautiful and they were so in love, madly adoring the other. Words could not describe how happy each of them was that they had survived death together. But actions such as this, they were far better suited to such tasks.

After the shower, filled with tender touch and soapy sensual caressing, Fox took his mate to the bed, carrying her through the living room in his arms. While in the shower, Krystal or Rob64 must have visited their room, because they had folded clothes laid out, flowers in a nearby vase and rose petals strewn about the floor and bed. A few candles flickered from their perch on the night stand adjacent to either side of the bed. Little did they know, the telepathic Krystal could sense the emotions coming from the bathing room and thought the addition of flower petals was necessary on their behalf.

Neither Fox nor Fara could argue with such a thoughtful arrangement, as the vulpine eased his fennec vixen onto the bed sheets. Her arms raised up to meet his body as he lowered his weight upon her, his lips parting, colliding with her own. Their soft tiers meshed together in an intense kiss of love, and the two soulmates joined themselves as Man and Wife at heart.

The incredible bliss of their love making brought each of them to a united orgasmic bliss which transcended a double climax, moving swiftly into a third release of pleasure that only Fox Junior could bring her. Those thoughts of Krystal knowing Fox McCloud where only she should have that privilege were erased for now, leaving her in a state of blissful post ecstasy.

The glowing lovers took their time to explore one another, as if learning their mate all over again for the first time, since the life-altering brush with death. They took their time to appreciate one another's existence and one another's love and one another's simple, tender touch. It was as if they couldn't get enough of the other, clinging to their mate the way a sailor clings to driftwood in the middle of the infinite sea.

After a short conversation following their session of love making, the couple got dressed and readied themselves to meet Fara's father, here in a world where the man had lost his daughter.

Out in the hallway, they headed for the Flight Deck, where Slippy was waiting for them. Three Arwings were waiting and ready on the hanger line. Fara and Fox slipped into the comfortable Arwings, which were outfitted with brand new seating and flashy new dash consoles. The ignitions each fired and they waited for Slippy to give the green light, firing up his own fighter.

"Ya know, these things were nearly falling apart up until the paycheck from Dinosaur Planet's mission. When a planet is about to explode and cause chaos for the rest of the system, Corneria takes it pretty seriously. These new things are flashy as can be," The frog said with a giddy grin.

"Sounds good, let's try'em out," Fox Junior said, easing up on the throttle to let the thrust build up. Slippy pulled out first, followed by Fara and Fox Junior to bring up the rear. They thundered out of the bay like a shotgun blast, heading into hyper-space towards Corneria. It wouldn't be a very long flight at this speed and the double-G-Diffuser, or DGD as Slippy was starting to call it, made the flight feel like more of a video game, sitting in a recliner with a flight yolk in their lap, than sitting in a compact subwarp fighter craft traveling 3/8ths the speed of light with massive gravitational force as resistance.

Fara swooned at the feel and layout of the ship, saying, "We absolutely need ships like this, Fox. This is the best thing I've ever ...felt!"

"Is it better than Ice cream? Or Spring time, or maybe sex for that matter?" Slippy joshed. Pulling his joke from a line in a movie about a bunch of singing Templar priestesses, from some comedy he saw on television once.

"No. Sex isn't a feeling, it's an _experience_," she retorted.

"Oh? How would you compare Sex to the freedom of a starfighter?" Slippy chuckled.

"A woman never tells her secrets," Fara said with a smirk.

"At least not to men," Fox added with a grin. He was really impressed by the holographic view display that materialized at the top of the cockpit, above his head. It had the entire team's image and the audio of their voices was clear and distinctive as if they were sitting there with him. It was fantastic. The craft was more responsive, more agile, and despite it's nimble ability and the sheer power of it's engines, the shield output was three times the output that one of their military Arwings could handle.

Corneria grew large before them and Slippy's voice came back over the radio. "All right, let's slow it down here, the rest of the way in should be a little more relaxed. So what do you guys plan to say to Mister Phoenix? You think he'll go into denial or jump up and down, maybe?" inquired the short, high pitched tone of Slippy Toad.

"Good question. I'm nervous but optimistic that I might be able to bring a little joy back into his life, even if it's just a little," She replied, forming up behind Fox and Slippy in a reverse triangle. To her surprise, a proximity alert sounded in the cockpit, causing her to glance down at her sensor readout.

A pink and white trimmed ship slipped effortlessly into the front of the formation, making it a completed diamond. Before Fox or Fara could really react in surprise to the non-hostile manuver, Katt Monroe's feline face came up on the holographic comm-bar.

"Well hello again, Tiger," She said to Fox, followed by, "And Slippy. It's been a long time, little lovie. I heard you took a break from the cockpit, I'm glad to see you're flying again, babe."

She didn't have anything to say to Fara, however, because she didn't recognize the woman.

"That Tiger is mine, dear," Fara said with a sly look.

"My goodness, did Fox and Krystal break up? Everyone knows Fox is dating the mysterious blue vixen, dear," Katt replied.

Fara frowned, biting her tongue so as not to be rude. "Maybe you don't understand the situation, _dear_, but in any case, how can we assist you, miss....?"

"...Monroe. Katt Monroe. I'm here to hang out with Slippy and when you guys head back, I'm going to go visit _my_ Falco. Since we women are apparently _owning_ our men, today," Katt exclaimed with boisterous glee. Her overactive zeal was rubbing Fara the wrong way, on this first meeting and Fox Junior was simply curious, confused and surprised by the ...cat fighting, so to speak.

"Well, Hiya Katt!" Slippy said, cutting through the tension as best he could. "It's nice flying with you again. You can hang out with me, while these two go do their thing on Corneria. After their business is done, we'll all fly back to GreatFox together. I'm sure Falco looks forward to seeing you again!"

"Really? You think he does?" She asked in a playful tone, as if asking to be sure, even though she knew she was too perfect not to miss, let alone love. She was filled with confidence and charisma, knowing she was one of the best freelance female pilots around.

She dated Bill Gray, a Husky from Katina two years ago, who also knew Fox and his team, but it was really just a few friendship dates and a kiss after dinner that didn't lead anywhere. Everyone knew Katt's eyes were for Falco, no matter how much he was annoyed to get shown up by her skills as a pilot and as a woman.

The four began their descent on Corneria, gaining permission to land at a nearby Air Force base at the far end of the Capital City. Fara had butterflies in her stomach and wanted to get business moving into the fast lane. The anticipation was eating her alive and she wanted to just see her father, already.

Once they landed, Slippy and Katt decided to head into town, leaving Fox with a communicator. Fox and Fara were left at the mass transit station with a few dollars and an address for Phoenix Industries and Magnate Manor. The ride felt longer than 25 minutes, but when it was finally over, they still had ten minutes to walk.

Just like in Fox and Fara's dimension, his Manor was on a small hill just outside of Baytown sector. She approached the gates and punched in the access code. A shiver ran down her spine when the code actually worked and the gates began to slide open. She glanced down over herself, at the jumpers and leotard, green and purple of all colors. She'd been on a fighter mission without any spare clothes and here they were in town with not enough money to buy anything. She turned to Fox and frowned.

"You don't think our credit cards will work here," She grinned then paused to take a deep breath and the two descended up the path to the stairs leading to the front door. At the top she pounded on the door firmly before ringing the doorbell. It was the way she'd always knocked or rang a buzzer, maybe her other half had the same quirk.

After a moment of infinity, the butler opened the door, someone she'd not seen before. "May I help you, Madame?"

"Yes, I'm here to see Peter Jacob Phoenix," She said.

"Do you have an appointment?" The man asked, glancing down at his log book for any appointments he may have missed.

"I am family and an emergency such as this doesn't require one. Please take me to him."

"Who may I tell him is here? He doesn't have any living family, young lady," The butler said.

"Tell him Fara is here. I'm sure you can see the similarities by looking at my face. If that's not enough for you, he'll know me when he sees me," She replied, sweating in nervous bullets.

"And your male friend here? He is?"

"My Fiancé, Fox McCloud Junior," She replied to his emotionless inquiry.

"Master Phoenix has family going by the name of his deceased daughter, dating a Mercenary with a reputation for causing us Cornerians to pay more taxes for everything he blows up? Outstanding! I'll tell him right away. Then again, if my employer has a heart attack from this absolutely outlandish trickery, I'm out of a job, so perhaps you'll understand if I don't tell him at all, close the door and hope you climb over the gate the way you came in?"

"The gate code is mom's birthday written in stardate format," Fara said, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh now you ARE his deceased daughter, I thought you were simply family?"

"A daughter constitutes as family," Fara said.

"Did you know he has his daughter's ashes in an urn above his mantle? Have some respect for the dead, young lady, and go home," The butler snapped.

"Sorry pal," Fox said, "But you're holding up an important reunion." With that, Fox took his balled up fist, drawing it back and quickly snapping it forward, meeting the butler's jaw. No one was about to insult _his_ woman. Besides, he could always blame it on the Mercenary Fox, not that he was that kind of person, but let the gentleman draw his own conclusions in the matter. Fara, on the other hand, looked shocked.

"My word, Fox! My father is going to hate us!"

"He'd hate his butler more if the guy turned Billionaire PJ Phoenix's daughter away at the door," Fox grunted. "Sorry. I didn't mean to do that, I just didn't want you to ... I mean. You looked like you were about to burst into tears out of frustration. I hate to see you cry," Fox admitted, with a frown.

"We've got to make it up to my Father for this. C'mon," She said, leading him into the mansion. The layout was identical. It was eerie in every sense of the word, walking through a home she knew in a world in which she did not belong. She knew he'd be in his study, talking with some corporate big wig about how to run the company or playing chess with one of the men his age, he'd grown up with, over the Solar-wide subnet.

The door opened with a nudge of her palm, seeing a man she'd only spoken to in her own world two days ago. But here, she knew this man had not seen her in close to a decade. She drew her breath in slowly and said the word with a soft, kind promise of help and daughterly love. "Daddy?"

Peter Jacob Phoenix lifted his eyes. But what he saw before him had him in disbelief. He recognized Fox McCloud before he recognized the girl, sadly. It was a moment of fierce confusion. He'd hired Fox McCloud's group on the slowest and most boring of missions, escorting a ship or two from one planet to another, when Fox's group was absolutely desperate for money. It only happened a few times over the last few years, before the guy had gotten the Dinosaur Planet crisis restored and had too much money for petty jobs any more.

"Fara?" His eyes settled on her, but he also had her ashes in an urn. For a brief moment, memories of standing in the morgue, identifying her badly bruised, broken body ran through his mind. "I'm, I'm sorry. Mr. McCloud and your lady friend. What can I do for you?"

Fara shook her head. "No, daddy. It's me. It's Fara. I'm here and I'll prove it as best as I can try. It's a long story but if you'll let me explain, we could use your help and I'll do everything in my power to bring you some measure of happiness, Father." It was true, she needed his funding to get them back to their side of the galaxy, but the most important thing right now was giving him something her doppelganger could not.... a reunion.

"F...fara? You're ... back? But how?" It was a question she would need to take her time in answering.

-- --

Fox and Krystal both looked away from the holographic image of "Theory 121.jpg" with disgust, each throwing a nearly hopeless sigh to the wind. Fox still had Krystal's birthday present on his mind but didn't know what to get. But putting his focus on this mess was going to run his time into the ground.

"Look, I need a break from this. I think I'm going to head out and clear my mind," he finally said.

"Want some company?" Krystal asked.

"I'd love some company from you, but there's something I need to take care of on my own, but I'll be back," He promised, running his fingers through her hair with a grin. He then turned to Falco and frowned, saying, "Look, I'm going to visit Kit. Maybe he can help keep things smooth while we put our brains on this temporary opening or whatever the hell it's called. Make sure the ship is still in one piece, when I get back and don't wake Peppy. I need him well rested from his nap, because he might be helping to map their course back through the void, later."

"Sure thing, _Mac_," Falco said, folding his arms.

"Hey, bite my ass, pal. I'm not getting paid to hear your one liners," Fox said, cracking a thin grin.

"Yeah, and you're not paying me to save your ass right now, so don't get yourself into

trouble," Falco replied.

Fox kissed his girlfriend good-bye, bidding her farewell before heading to Katina. Sure, he wanted to visit Kit, but really, he wanted to find something for Krystal. Maybe his nephew could help him out with some ideas.

It was a half an hour trip to Katina then took another half an hour to track down Kit Karamak McCloud and his woman, Snowy. At the door of the on-base townhouse, Snowy opened the door grinned in surprise to see Fox there, unannounced.

"Hey Diane, how are you?" McCloud asked.

"Very good, what an unexpected surprise visit," She said, motioning for Fox to come

inside.

"Yeah, I think I need Kit's help with Krystal and I thought, since I was in the area, I'd stop by," Fox explained. It didn't come out quite the way he had hoped but it would have to do. Snowy shut the door behind Fox, taking his jacket and resting it over a living room chair. She motioned for Fox to make himself comfortable and he, in turn, moved to the sofa, settling down onto it.

"Kit's actually at the airport. He was taking Lee over there, so Lee didn't need to leave his car on their lot, which.. can be kinda expensive," She explained. "He'll be back in an hour, can I get you anything?"

"Oh, no thanks, I'm fine. I'm shopping for a birthday gift for Krystal and don't know what I should get for her," The pilot explained with a slight frown. There was no use telling her about Fox Junior and Fara and how crazy everything was, just yet.... he needed a break from that topic, anyhow. It would be explained in due time, to be sure.

"Aren't you guys in love?" Snowy said, sitting on the sofa, besides Fox.

"Insanely in love."

Snowy giggled to herself, loving the whole cute side of the situation. "Why don't you propose for her birthday?"

"Holy... cow. That's perfect! I should go and get her a ring. But you know she's telepathic, what if she knows, then it won't be a surprise?" Fox said with a frown.

"Once you buy it, put the box aside in your room, where it'll remind you the day of her birthday. Then, between now and that day, completely forget about it. Make it the absolute last thing on your mind," Snowy suggested, patting the back side of Fox's paw with her palm.

"Easier said than done," Fox grunted.

"Oh it's probably very hard, but it's worth a shot," She said with a grin. "Do you need help picking out a ring?"

"Having a lady around might help make the situation a little more easy," Fox admitted. "How long is Kit gone?"

"An hour, maybe two at the most," She replied, folding her paws over her tummy, leaning back into the sofa.

"Well, I guess if we're going to go together, we'd better get started," Fox said. Snowy's grin broadened and she nodded quietly, going for her purse. This could definitely be fun! She'd not been in town for a while, and to mill around town with her future uncle in law could easily make the day much more enjoyable.

"You know, if I give her the box with the ring in it and tell her not to open it until her birthday, it'd be much easier to put it in the back of my mind and know I won't forget about it," Fox concluded.

"Smart!" Snowy replied, grabbing her house keys. The two of them made it to the door, and Fox waited for her to lock up. Then they headed down to the street corner where Snowy's car was parked. It wasn't anything exciting, on a military salary but the compact was enough room for the two of them, comfortably.

Snowy eased out into the lane, heading for the main gates at the front of the base. The ride into town was fairly short, since Snowy knew the shortcuts around the area. She knew just the jewelry store to go to, as well. Fox had never been to it, but any woman born in the Lylat system knew of Nouveau Diamond Gallery.

The large letters, NDG were on the side of the building, proudly and easy for everyone in the area to see. Fox had only heard of this place once or twice but he didn't know anything about it. He leaned forward, looking up through the windshield at the massive sign with raised brows.

"So this is a jewelry store?"

"No," Snowy chuckled, "It's Thee diamond store. Biggest on Katina. And they have one on Corneria, as well. Every diamond is a "C" coloration or better. And the clarity is perfect for each diamond. No one knows where their mine is, or if they buy the perfect specimens off of their competitors to sell, themselves. No woman knows, but every woman wants a diamond from NDG," She explained.

"I see. That's a good place to start then, because lord knows, Krystal is the jewelry queen," Fox remarked, referring to her tiara and her other ritualistic looking tribal jewels. Snowy grinned, knowing what Fox meant. She lead him from the car towards the building, taking his paw and leading him through the aisles, to the engagement section.

"Now how do you know what size she wears?" Snowy asked.

"She always puts a key ring on her ring finger, when I toss her my keys. It's a perfect fit, I have my keys on me, we'll get something of equal size," Fox explained.

Snowy grinned. "Smart man."

"Well, I try, I guess," Fox said with a slightly embarrassed grin. She playfully reached up to give him a squeeze on his cheek, causing him to blush and roll his eyes, trying to focus his attention on some of pieces on display.

"Can I help you?" A clerk asked, approaching the pair.

"Yeah," Snowy said, "My Uncle here is looking for the perfect ring for my future aunt," She said with a sly grin.

"Awfully confident aren't you?" Fox chided her playfully.

"We haven't set a date yet, but give it some time," Snowy said, sticking her tongue out and laying her ears flat, her expression then melting into a coy grin.

Fox Junior and Fara sat side by side on the expensive leather sofa, paws embraced, across from the reading chair which Mister Phoenix was now sitting in. They were awaiting the results of a DNA paternity test, which Fara offered participation, freely.

On occasion, her eyes flitted to the Urn of Fara Phoenix sitting on the mantle, atop of the fireplace. The thought made her queasy and simultaneously, it made Fox uneasy. His fiancé was dead in some form, up on that ledge and her remains were inside of it. He wasn't sure whether he should mourn the dead Fara's remains out of respect, or mourn for his twin, who never got the chance to save her life and start a relationship

Fox had heard that in this dimension, Fox was given two choices on Corneria. One was to head through the waterfall and go out to the beach and dispatch the attack Mini-Carrier, as he had done, the other was to head north, to the outer edge of the City and stop the giant Walker-Robot from marching in and stomping all over the buildings of the northern residential areas. The Fox indigenous to this world took out the Walker Robot first. But according to Rob64, the archive-retaining robot on GreatFox, his other half was in the brig, when Fara was killed by that thing. Then 6 months later, Corneria hired StarFox squadron to take down the menace, either way... Fara was killed by the troop transport's ion cannon, and they never began their lives together. Sad.

The nurse returned with a print out, placing the sheet into the waiting paws of Peter Phoenix. Fara didn't even look nervous. Fox, on the other hand, was curious and nervous at the same time, because he wasn't sure exactly how identical these parallel universes really were. What if there was that much of a difference? But they did look the same and that had to mean something.

"The results...." Peter bit his lower lip, holding back tears, "Are positive. Fara... I can't... I can't believe..." He stood up, Fara standing as well. The two embraced tightly and she couldn't help but cry at how happy she had made him feel. "To know that you're alive and well... at least somewhere under the eye of the Goddess... it brings me so much joy. I'm so glad you've survived the trip over here. I don't know what to say! I thought I'd lost you _forever_," He sobbed against his daughter's shoulder.

While it was true, she was born in another dimension, or some sort of parallel continuity of some sort, the important thing was, he got to see his little girl again, and she lived to see life and while it was Fox McCloud she was engaged to, it was a different Fox McCloud... a military man, which made him insanely proud.

"I will help you guys get home in any way possible. I'll invest in the top scientists, if I have to, I'll do what it takes, because I don't want my other half to feel the way I felt when I thought you were dead," He explained.

"Oh daddy," she said, giving one final squeeze before relinquishing the hug. The two drew back, but took one another's hands, him looking into her eyes, just to remember her being so beautiful. She'd aged quite well in the last decade, that was for sure. Her calling him daddy again, after all this time, melted his heart. He had to bottle the joy to savor for later, lest he break down into tears of happiness again.

Fox approached the two with a brilliant smile. He could hardly believe Peter Phoenix was going to help them out using his wealth. "I absolutely appreciate the gesture, Sir."

"You two are engaged," Father Phoenix said. "Betrothed, to one another, for goodness sake Fox... call me dad."

"Yes sir! It would be an honor... dad," Fox replied, smiling brightly at the acceptance. He was accepted as Fara's mate and as a son-in-law to be, by Peter Phoenix on both sides. Infact, it was PJ Phoenix Fox went to, after buying Fara's ring, but before presenting it to her. He had shown Mister Phoenix the ring, getting hugged and at the same time, filled with confidence, before proposing. This, of course, happened in Fox Junior's reality, where Peter Phoenix had been overly friendly with Fox McCloud since he'd rescued Fara the first time, right on one of the Phoenix Transportation shuttles, upon leaving Papetoon.

Peter slipped his right paw from Fara's left then reached to shake Fox's own paw, firmly and in a fatherly fashion. This Fox McCloud was a well decorated Cornerian Military Pilot, with a healthy rank and seemed to have things going for him, where the Fox McCloud from this universe was a mercenary half-pirate who worked on occasional Government contracts, dangerously raiding people who were considered enemies of Corneria. This Fox McCloud was no Han Solo. He was an obviously well-respected young man with manners and upper class officer training.

"So," Peter said, clearing his throat before continuing, "You've met your... other self... here, and what not. So my boy, I've got to know... What do you think of him? Just between us, where do you see the differences and similarities?"

"Well sir, he's a very raw, brazen, impulsive young man. He's more rash than I am, ready to run in with his blaster before finding another way to save everyone, first. I think he does it for the money more than he does it for the good of our kind. But he's quite a hero in many ways. So I respect him all the same. We've both suffered the same loses, but have simply handled things differently. Perhaps we'll learn things from one another and benefit in some positive way," Fox explained.

"What do you expect to learn from your twin, here?" The elder Phoenix asked.

Fox Junior tilted his head and said."More about myself. I see the way he reacts to things under pressure, tension or just stress in general. Being part of one another, I can learn to better myself by seeing the way my 'twin' handles things. Also, maybe he can help me learn how to put the death of my family in the past. He appears to be over it, far better than I, at least."

"You love my daughter, don't you?"

"I've put myself into a position to die for her many times. But only to shield her from danger," Fox told him.

Peter smiled and hugged them both closely together. "You're free to stay in my home as a guest of honor until we get you home," the gentlemanly figure offered, stepping back to look at them, side by side. Fox's paw slipped into Fara's and they grinned eagerly at their new ally.

"Actually father," Fara said, reaching to touch his face with her free paw. "I think we'll be bouncing back and forth between here and the GreatFox cruiser. They're actively working on a plan to return us to our home and I'd like to be present in helping them. Also, we owe our lives to them."

"Completely understood. But please, at least visit me before you return. I'd like to remember you as a happy woman going on a trip with her fiancé, where I can wish you well and give you one last hug and kiss," Peter said, trying not to all-out-plead her.

Fara smiled brightly, "Of course, Daddy. I love you. We've got to be returning now, because we're the ride for a friend and his father back to GreatFox, so that we can get things together, but I'll be visiting you again, soon!"

Peter smiled at her words, adding, "Bring Fox. He's my son in law, in my eyes. I wish you both a safe trip back to GreatFox, kids." The three of them embraced once more before quickly apologizing one last time about his butler. With that out of the way, Fox Junior and Fara Phoenix departed to meet up with Slippy and Beltino. From there, the quartet headed for home, so to speak.

Fox Junior and his mate walked, paw in paw, up into the hallway connecting them from the flight deck. Fox broke the moment of silence with his soft, reassuring voice, saying, "It was a bit awkward for me to see you in an urn, besides your mother. I know your father kept your mother in an urn on the mantle, too. But seeing you up there, next to her... it really bothered me."

Fara nodded in her reply, quietly adding, "It makes me realize I'm not immortal. If you're not there to save me, that's how I'll end up," She admitted, more to herself than to him. "But at the same time, if I'm not there to watch your 6, you could be the one in an urn, and it helps me realize that our chances of raising a family and retiring at an old age are much higher, when we're together."

Fox grinned. He was glad for the fact that she was taking everything in an optimistic light. The couple continued up the ramp, towards the main body of GreatFox, several yards ahead of Slippy and his father, who were carrying their own conversation.

"And that's what the theory is. It'd be like being able to meet your son you've never met, and me meeting my brother, but the best I can do is let _them _see us, by sending Fox Junior and Fara back with a holo-vid and messages of us, or something. I think it's neat," Slippy explained.

Beltino chimed in his usually spirited tone of reply. "Quite neat, really! It sounds like there's some science in this that could get either one of us published if we can write a paper on the data, surrounding this. It's a breakthrough, to say the least!" The elder Toad added, cheerfully. The amphibious pair headed for the Captain's office, while Junior and Fara headed towards the Rec room to see what was edible on the ship.

-

Krystal stepped into the Recreation room from the opposite entrance, smiling pleasantly to Junior and his girl. The Sandy fennec tried not to scowl at her, simply looking the other direction. It didn't take Krystal's telepathic abilities to see that Fara was bothered by the azure vixen and the young Krystal tried to remain empathetic, but cautious.

Fox also noticed his mate's reaction and stepped back, folding his arms. "What's going on with you two? What's happening here?" the Junior Fox asked, naively.

"To be blunt," Fara admitted with a sigh, "It's rather awkward, knowing she knows you the way I do." She folded her arms, stealing a glance at her competition, out of the corner of her eye, facing off to the side. "Infact." She paused then added, "It's unfair she knows someone that only I should know in a certain way," she continued, in reference to intimacy. Fox still didn't have a clue.

"Fara, we're completely opposite. He's a rogue leader, I'm an officer," Fox tried comforting her, but it was little help.

"You're still both pilots, with a similar childhood and raged the same war against Andross, you have other similarities that I only want reserved to me. No one should know you the way I know you," explained the fennec, looking a touch frumpy.

"I still don't," Fox took a deep breath, "Don't.... get it. I don't get it at _all_, in fact. Fara, if we're different personalities, then even if we have the same mission or fate, we're different people so you know a different Fox's personality."

Krystal shook her head, easily able to read Fara and sighed softly, deciding to explain things. "Fox, she means intimately, she knows what your kiss, the caress of your palm and the depth of your foxhood feels like inside of her body. No other woman should be allowed to know what it feels like to have her legs wrapped around Fox McCloud, or have Fox McCloud buried inside of her heat. She finds it uncomfortable to know that in another world, Fox was able to find complete love with someone other than Fara Phoenix. Had she come here and saw this Fox with another form of herself, she'd be able to live with that, but not another woman."

Fara looked shocked. Not knowing Krystal was a telepath, she could only assume that Krystal was simply empathetic and not empathic. It was probably a woman thing, Fox guessed, looking flustered, nervously exchanging glances between the two females.

"Well, I guess we have to see if the other Fox was circumcised or not," he said, trying to make light of a joke, because the situation itself, was uncomfortable, in general. Fara groaned, burying her face in her paws, shaking her head slightly.

"Well, if he was, it would be different, right?" Fox asked.

"But it wouldn't make things any easier," said Krystal. "And yes, he is."

"How so?" Junior asked, looking frustrated and trying to downplay Krystal's added statement. Well, the girl definitely told it like it is. She was blunt and honest to the core. Couldn't disrespect that, for sure.

Krystal shook her head and added, "Because in another time, in another place, Fox McCloud is compatible with another woman. How would it make you feel to know that if you went into a Coma, Fara could find another mate with ease, because there was someone else out there, with blue fur, she got along with, perfectly...?"

Fox gave it some thought before answering. "I guess that would be weird, but Fara is dead here. That made me feel even worse, not because she was or wasn't happy with someone else, but because I couldn't save her, in this universe. That made me realize no one is immortal. I'd rather have her alive and happy, even if it's not with me, than for her to be dead. But this particular Fara, here, is my Fara. She's not a dead vixen, she's a living, breathing, complex, diverse, and incredibly beautiful woman," He said, placing his arms around her. It melted through her defenses but she still wouldn't look at Krystal.

Krystal took a moment to scan Fox, before smiling weakly. "Fox, this Fox... Your Fox, loves you completely, Fara. He had no feelings for me, and that... in itself, is a relief, to me. My Fox... James' son, is too much of a rogue for your heart to open up to him. I know you find it difficult to accept Fox in another world, loving another woman, but I assure you, your Fox _is_ unique. As are you, and your relationship. And that makes it special, more so than anything else."

Fara sighed. "Perhaps." She just really wasn't ready to entertain all of this, at the moment. "But I need time to accept this....it's really rather difficult, and you being here isn't helping right now," Fara snapped.

"Before I go," Krystal said softly, "Answer me this riddle: I have a mouth but to not eat, I have a bed but do not sleep. I run but do not walk, I have a lip but never talk. What am I?"

Fara thought about it for a moment, tapping her lip with a purple, lacquered nail, before answering, "A river? What does a river have to do with anything?"

Krystal closed her eyes, walking to the door, looking over her shoulder, first to Fox Junior, then to Fara Phoenix. She glanced off into space for a moment, before looking back to Fara, replying, "You're crying a river, right now. For us to work together and help you get back home, I need you to build a bridge and get over it." With that, she departed from the rec room, leaving Fara in shock and absolute awe of just getting cleverly told to 'take a hike or grow up', in a fancy, intelligent sounding way by a mere teenager.

"That..... bitch!" Fara balled her right paw into a fist, narrowing her gaze. She wasn't going to let the blue furred little wench outsmart her. She began to charge out of the Rec Room to show her who was worthy of Fox's love when Junior reached out and suddenly snatched her body, turning her to face him and kissed her deeply.

A moment passed before Fox relinquished the intimate kiss, but it wasn't enough. "You may have let her get away for now, but when I see her," Fara said with a sigh.

"Fara, she was trying to tell you that we're happy together. Her Fox isn't me. She doesn't even want me. I don't want her. Her Fox doesn't want you, and hopefully, you don't want him."

Fara smirked, adding, "Maybe I want you both all to myself. No, but seriously, that Fox is too much of a rebellious, greedy brat for me," She said adjusting a wrinkle in her flight suit, over her taught tummy.

"Then please, can't you guys get along, the way Fox and I get along?" Junior said, speaking of Mac, the indigenous McCloud of the system. Fara nodded without a word and the two hugged softly. Perhaps Fox could see to it that this would work afterall.

Fara headed back upstairs, walking across the lounge, to explore the ship, but when she got there, the Telepathic Krystal was waiting for her. Her arms folded, her stance tall, waiting to see if Fara was coming to start a fight or hold herself back. Krystal knew what she wanted to do, but didn't know how the woman's self control would cause the situation to happen.

"You," Fara said, narrowing her gaze, once more.

"I do _not_ mean to speak down on you infront of your mate. I wish no fight, I simply was hoping we could be friends," Krystal said.

"We'll see," Fara said. She wanted to be the girl's friend, but they just didn't seem compatible at first. They'd only just met and everything was on the wrong foot. She was in an awkward mood because of the situation and the stress was only starting to actually get to her. Krystal, on the other hand, acted as though she was too happy about everything and Fara simply didn't trust the little blue ..thing. She wasn't even drinking age yet. How could ANY Fox McCloud be attracted to a child? Before anyone could say anything further, Peppy Hare stepped into the room, holding a coffee mug.

His gaze panned back and forth between the two women and he could immediately feel the tension in the room. He wasn't telepathic like Krystal but it only took a matter of emotional perception to see there was some sort of problem. "Ladies?"

Krystal cracked a light smile. "Good evening, Peppy. What brings you by?"

"Just milling about," He said. "Good evening, Fara. Is there a problem here, girls?"

"Good evening, Sir. No, I'm the problem, but I think I'm mature enough to put it to rest, so really, everything is fine," Fara said, trying to be a lady about everything.

"Girls," Peppy said, motioning to the two lounge chairs, then sitting across from them on a sofa. Fara and Krystal nodded, exchanged glances, then settled into the chairs as directed, listening to him continue. "I may be an old man. I may not be a pilot anymore, and I may only be here because I have no other family, but I'm pretty sure I've done the math, enough to know you're probably both feeling awkward about one another," He started.

"Well, Peppy, it's just..." Krystal began to show a measure of being defensive, but quieted at the raising of Peppy's hand, in a gesture to let him finish first.

"It's an awkward situation, and while Krystal can see into her mate's mind and Fara can

see into her mate's heart, you both see into the soul of your man. You both know this feels right, and I respect that," He explained, taking a sip from his coffee cup. "Now, ladies.... With all due respect, from what I see in these two Fox McCloud's is something of a surprise. Because they're not the same man, even if they're from an alternative version of the same universe."

"How do you mean?" Fara asked, leaning forward... curious. Unlike the Peppy from her world, he was a lone man, with no family. He had no wife, and the military didn't keep him young because he lived a more relaxed life, with a private group for hire.

"I've looked at information on Fox Junior's personal data pad, from his.. "PDA". Your system has many of the same planets, but many differences. I've not found Aquies or Zoness and Fortuna there, is inhabited by a species of....massive insects and animals. I've never heard of a being known as a Monarch Dodora. Your sector-Y is home to millions of space-fairing animals, like whales and mana-rays and some sort of intergalactic jelly fish beings... It's incredible," Peppy said.

"You don't have all that here?" Fara asked, looking rather surprised.

"Did you see them when we sent you to find Slippy's father and meet your family on this side of the universe?" Peppy asked.

"Well, no... but we put in autopilot and didn't think nothing of it. Infact, I opted to take a paternity test and the results were positive," Fara added.

"That's fantastically interesting. Slippy and his father would be delighted to know that detail, make sure you mention it to them," Peppy said before continuing with his point in the matter. "Anyhow, girls. The way I see it, our systems have both Fate _and_ Freewill, in certain aspects. The thing is, the things that Fate has caused differently, has inspired _some_ decisions of freewill to come to play differently."

"How do you mean?" Fara asked, folding her legs up underneath of her, sitting there on the lounge chair.

"Well, we have no control over things like how different your Lylat is from our Lylat. We have more planets, nebulas in the shape of X, Y _and_ Z, where yours is only Y, and that nebula is full of space-creatures that resemble sea creatures...where we have two planets are are full of sea creatures. You have a sector X and Z but they're nothing but floating construction pillars and support beams of an unfinished Venom Base that was never cleaned up.

"After looking at the regular system information that's pre-programed into Fox Junior's PDA, probably meant as a reference for school kids who own the same model...making it common knowledge on your side, I've discovered that your MacBeth was ...is... a hollow planet of tunnels, and made of churned up clay and pockmarks.... Ours is a dusty blue ball covered with train tracks and old factories that aren't in use any longer. That's Fate. It's history we cannot change, making it fact and fate. But our decisions are Freewill, are you with me so far?"

Krystal nodded, as well as Fara. Peppy smiled, taking another sip of his coffee and chuckled a moment before continuing. "Now I'm not a scientist, this is just the ranting of an old man, but the way I see it... Fara died in this world, that's fate. Fox decided to date a woman he only met year-before-last, here. That was Freewill but he never met Fara Phoenix at 18, either. Does that make any sense?"

Fara frowned, leaning forward over her folded legs, sitting cutely in the chair. "Can you give me a better example of something Fox and Fox decided on differently, that has nothing to do with us?"

"Hm," Peppy pondered to himself then grinned broadly. "Your Fox decided to join the Military's elite attack program, as a pilot, as a Wing Commander of his very tightly knit squadron. He chose three other pilots to fly with based on whatever merits he based his decision on, then fatefully flew against, and crushed... Andross Oikonni."

"Right, I'm with you so far," Fara replied.

The aging map maker grinned, continuing, "And here, Fox refused to join the Military. Pepper offered, Fox refused. He didn't chose team mates, but he chose his family and friends baised on the same merits, winding up with the same team. Our Fox flew against Andross twice, so far, and crushed him both times. But he refuses the military life, where your Fox embraces it. They both exercised their right of Freewill, despite the measure of Fate with which each McCloud was involved. They both have the same, or at least a similar destiny as far as the protector of Lylat, but their destiny differs, concerning a few things. It's happened before, whoever the parents were of James McCloud, for example."

Krystal could read minds but since Peppy was speaking from his heart and imagination, she was beginning to lose where he was coming from, here. This time she was the one that wanted clarification, asking him to go into detail on the matter.

"All right, this is the last I'll say on the matter," Peppy said with a smug expression. "Then it's up to you two to figure out things, so you can put your differences....or rather, your unfair similarities in the past and become friends."

"Fair enough," Fara said.

"All right, good. James must have had something different about his life than Fox Senior. He was the same father, the same pilot and the same man with the same fate, regardless of dying different ways. But James may have had a different mother or grandmother, giving him a strip of white headfur which Fox inherited. It may have been his mother, because most of the time, the vixen is given the honor of naming the first born, and James was named James, and Fox Senior, who has no white headfur strip, between his ears, was named Fox, leaving him to name his son after himself, making Fara's mate..Fox Junior. James on the other hand, named Krystal's Fox.... the Fox from this universe, after his great, great, great Grandfather, Fox Tyberious McCloud, which is 4 generations ago.

"He was born into poverty, led a small rebellion against a small, Totalitarian governing faction on Corneria's southwestern hemisphere and moved to Corneria's Capitol City and became a philosophy teacher," Peppy concluded. "Any way that you look at it, James still had the same fate as Fox Senior, and their son still had the same Fate against Andross, regardless of their differences, regardless of your differences and Fox McCloud and Fox McCloud Junior's differences. With Lylat being completely different in this universe than your home, Fara, I can say with confidence, that you're both in love with a Unique individual with the same destiny for triumph over evil."

"Manifest Destiny, Clandestine, just plain old Fate," Fara said with a sigh, "It's still difficult to swallow that Fox could possibly be happy with someone other than me. That's all. There's no problem with Krystal, the problem is with me."

"Don't be silly," Peppy said, gazing at the sandy fennec over the rim of his coffee mug.

"The spectrum of your relationship is in a different scope of reality. The parameters of your love is on a different plain." The group glanced up to the words, spoken by Beltino, in the doorway. He reached to adjust his loosely knotted tie and smiled. "Fara is in love with the Do-Gooder Military pilot, well decorated, with manners and a kind, religious and compassionate heart. Krystal, on the other paw, is in love with a Rogue with morals, who needs a retainer fee before taking a mission, but occasionally diverting for a moment, to make sure no one in his wake is left suffering. He's a slob on occasion, with regards to respected elders, as opposed to just respected out ranking people. Our Fox rolls his eyes everytime General Pepper makes a joke or every time the general tries to be friendly, while reminding Fox little obvious things, like why some missions don't require a blaster."

Krystal leaned back in the seat, folding her arms lightly, while drawing her left foot up, across her right thigh. "So you're saying two different universes by the same name, have created two different men by the same name, who have two different sets of morals, principals and personalities, as well as different sets of flaws, merits and life experiences. Correct?"

"It's as if you took the words right out of my mouth," Beltino said, of the telepathic vixen.

"I don't mean to," Krystal replied with a chuckle. She then turned to Fara, and felt the fennec's heart grow less cold. It pleased her, to be sure. She wanted to be friends with Fara and maybe Fara just didn't understand what Krystal knew about each Fox, because Krystal was able to look into their minds, where Fara couldn't. Also, Fara didn't have much time around the indigenous Fox McCloud, from this universe, to make her own assessments. Thinking about her Fox, Krystal began to wonder where he could be. She realized right away that Peppy, nor Beltino knew of his whereabouts, nor did Fara.

"Who would know where Mac went?" she finally asked.

"I suppose you could always contact his communicator," Beltino replied, approaching Peppy and folding his arms. "Long time no see, my friend. How've you fared? You know, you're going to grow ovaries, surrounding yourself in all this female drama, mixed with all those soaps you watch, anymore."

Peppy chuckled, shaking his head and taking another sip of coffee. "Either way, thank you for coming to my rescue and explaining things better. It's hard to convince a woman that her lover's identical twin can be happy with someone else, radically different, because she begins to question herself."

Fara nodded to Peppy's words, adding on her own explanation. "There might be a Krystal in my universe and Fox might one day meet her, and what if both Fox's are fated to be mated to Krystal? It bothers me, that's all. The 'what if's' are dangerous to a woman's head."

"Fox has already made his life choice. He proposed to you didn't he?" Peppy asked. "Not to mention, when he met Krystal, here, he put a knife to her throat, as opposed to falling head over heals in love or anything."

"He WHAT??" Fara looked shocked.

"Well," Krystal said with a giggle, "he didn't know where he was. I was the first hostage he could take, while trying to navigate the ship, look for you, and escape. When I surprised him by anticipating his moves and flipped him, his first thought was, "eh, she's cute but she's not Fara. Nah, she's defiantly not my type. Where's my Fara?"

"How do you know his first thought?" Fara said, narrowing her eyes. Was this woman telepathic? Her own Peppy, from her side, was telepathic, but he wasn't able to read thoughts down to the very detail, not like this. Krystal nodded in reply to Fara's inquiry, causing Fara to suddenly distrust Krystal even more. She didn't like when someone she didn't know or trust, just yet, to be able to read her thoughts in stark detail. But Krystal could only read someone who wasn't guarded. Fox was running on instincts, thinking out loud in his mind, running the very words of his questions to himself, through his head, unsure of his simple intentions at the time. This was the reason Krystal was able to read him so well.

"I'm sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable. But please know, Fox's thoughts were on finding you. He's.... well.... obsessed with you in a very _good_ way. He wasn't interested in me or anyone... or any_thing_ else. You have no worries." Krystal smiled reassuringly. It wasn't working so very great, at the moment. She could sense Fara's distrust and turned to the window with a sigh. Now all eyes were on the blue vixen at the generous window, facing out the starboard side of GreatFox.

Suddenly, the inky void ruptured and a flutter of colors, along with a miasma of powdery light flashed brightly, stunning all four of them. The living room was cast into a fantastic glow, causing Krystal to stumble back from the window. Beltino quickly approached the glass, peering out into the depths of space, looking for the source of the flash or disturbance.

The intercom came to life and Slippy's voice was heard, summoning everyone to the bridge. The group rubbed their eyes, making their way out into the hallway then quickly jogging down the hallway, their argument forgotten. Krystal could sense strange confusion and fear, but it wasn't emanating from anyone on GreatFox.

They arrived on the bridge, quickly surrounding Slippy, who stood in the center. He raised a webbed hand, pointing at the view screen, saying, "Something else came through; I've got three distinct bio-signs on the main sensors."

"Fox isn't here," Falco said, looking to the four new arrivals to the bridge. "Junior and I think we should bring it in on tractor beam. Krystal can do her thing when we pull it in on the flight bay, and we'll see what we got for Christmas."

"All right, I'm pretty sure we're all currious. Anyone here opposed to grabbing the little box of people onboard?" Slippy asked, looking around. Everyone seemed currious and no one seemed against the idea. "All right, Rob, reel it in, we'll all be downstairs in receiving." With that, the group of 7 headed for the flight deck.

-- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Krystal knelt over the box, closing her eyes. She took a moment to filter out Fox Junior and Fara. She took a moment to filter out Toad and his father, as well as Falco and Peppy and opened up her mind to the beings on the other side of the metallic barrier between her and whoever was inside. She could see gunfire in her mind. She could see footfalls and hear shouting that drowned the clicks of metallic heels into the depths of inaudible.

Her jaw dropped open in surprise, astonishment written across her brow. "My Goddess. It's.... Oh my goodness, open it quickly! They need medical attention!" She was too shocked to say anything more.

"Who is it?" Fara demanded, reaching for the cargo container's release lock. The very top end of the container fell open, by it's hinges, displaying only the weary, tired visages of the poor souls locked inside. The entire group went slack in their jaws, everyone gawking in disbelief. Was it even possible? There was only a measure of complete shock.

"This...." Beltino mused in a whispered breath, "Is impossible."

Chapter 4: War Stories and Double Takes.


	3. Chapter 4

Fan fic dot com is eating my coma's in some places. Most of these comas are right before or right after a quotation mark. So if you see this travesty, know it's not my fault! I even tried to add some back in with quick edit and it was being evil! The Punctuation monster that lives here, in Fan fic dot com was especially hungry tonight, singing "C IS FOR COMA, DATS GOOD ENOUGH FOR MEEEE", I saw him with my own eyes!

In this chapter, we see stuff. Sorry about the lack of action, which I'll make up for is Chapter 5. Chapter 5, btw, is already written. I took some time off of playing STARFOX2: Assault (you can rent it at your local blockbuster and hollywood video as of February 1st) which i've been playing constantly for about...oh...the last 9 hours and took about 3 hours to write chapter 5 and proof chapter 4.

Finally, I wanna say that I appreciate my last review a great deal. It rocks my socks to see someone look forward to my next piece and that made me get into the mood to write today, so I finished chapter five and it WILL get posted tomorrow (which means it'll probably be up on this site by tomorrow night or Friday morning! )

If this message doesn't make it in, and my coma's are still all missing, before and after quotation marks, then... fooey. In that case, QuickEdit stinks. As always, I've edited the content of ANY use of the F word, any _descriptive_ sexual activites, other than letting you know Fox junior is a different lover from Fox McCloud, son of James, so you can get a feel for how different these guys are. THanks Ben Itoh for giving us a neat, different Fox McCloud. Yeah, I know, he was a mercenary on Papetoon, yadda yadda, but most people look at that Fox as having been reinstated to the military. He has a flight uniform, he flies off the base, he answers directly to Pepper. In the SNES Game, he flies out of the base, which gives NO hint to any mercenary lifestyle...just a friendly reminder, Fox Junior and Fox, son of James, nicknamed Mac, by the cast here, are different, yet they're both Nintendo Characters. Diane "Snowy" Rosen, Kit Karamak, Nicky McCloud and Annie Hare all belong to their respective peoples, writers of other Fan Fictions that I adore. Snowy and Kit are mine, Nicky belongs to M.L., and Annie belongs to J.G., word to yo mutha.

Now enjoy, read and review, lol! Chapter five will go up tomorrow when I finish proofing it tomorrow. And remember, any missing Comas and all the indentations that I tried to make stick... that's all curtasy fan fic dot com, and remember, QuickEdit Stinks and when you press on the 'down' arrow of the scroll bar, it takes you to the bottom when you're trying to edit something that's... well.. not at the bottom. WE LOVE YOU FAN FICTION DOT COM...ahem.

Take care!

* * *

Chapter 4: War Stories and Double Takes. 

Does lightning strike twice? Of course, but rarely-to-never in the same place. The fact that this cargo container came from the same pocket of space that Fara and Fox came in was beyond possibility and yet, here it was.

"Slippy, Falco and Peppy...!" The words rolled off Krystal's tongue in a way that she wasn't even sure if she said them or not. It was as if the words were spoken on reflex action alone. Fara and Fox Junior suddenly gasped, racing to either side of the box, trying to search for a way to open the cross-section, to help their aquaintences from the metallic prison.

Slippy was on top of the situation, running to the wall, where a control panel was located. He pressed a few buttons and the group stepped back from the box as a large mechanical arm swung into view, hovering above the box. He didn't need to warn them about standing back, they all had enough common sense to comply.

The arm lowered, until a clawed hand was inches above the metal case. One of the metallic finger attachments revealed some sort of cutting tool. The laser began to sheer off a single layer of metal, not quite cutting all the way through one end of the box. Another pass removed one side of the jettisoned container and three pairs of feet could be seen, motionless. Slippy relinquished control of the electronic arm, letting the device raise back to it's dormant position, tucked into the ceiling.

The group quickly rushed back to the box, where Fox Junior and Fara began pulling the beings from inside by their ankles. It was Slippy, Peppy and Falco from their universe. Of the three, only Falco was still conscious, gasping for fresh air. Fox and Fara knelt to hug their friend and whisper their thanks of his well being. That was about the time that Falco saw... himself... over Fara's shoulder. His eyes went wide and he quickly began to move to his feet, pointing at his twin.

"Who in the hell...?"

The mercenary Falco grinned and said, "Heya', good lookin'." How else does one recieve their twin, for the first time? It was an awkward situation but one that only the likes of Falco could play off with a measure of style and grace. His doppelganger was in shock from being flushed into a gravity hole, and Falco understood the poor guy was probably already in shock as it was. And now all this, the poor sucker probably didn't know whether to make heads or tails of the situation.

Fox Junior shook his head, closing his eyes for only a moment. "It's a long story," he said with a sigh. "When you guys are ready, we'll sit down and tell you the whole crazy thing."

"So there's two of everyone here except for you, Fara and that chick over there?" The alternative Falco asked in disbelief.

"No, there's two of everyone except for Fara and Krystal, over there. I take it Andross threw you guys into the blackhole, too?" Fox smiled weakly. Now there would be no one from his world to protect Lylat from Andross. His heart sank and Krystal could feel it.

"We were handed over in exchange for a few Venom Ace Pilots, but mounted a new attack to try and find you and free you. The Marine contingent who went with us was mowed down," The military uniformed Lombardi muttered. "It was awful. We were the only one's standing. Andross attacked us with a miniature version of his telekinetic amplified face...thing. Next thing I know, we're being stuffed into a tin can with him laughing about having a special, fitting end. He said that, because we've come all that way for Fox and Fara, he said he'd be glad to help us 'find them more quickly'. His words. Half an hour later, after alot of turbulence, our oxygen tank failed. I don't know if it was out or damaged or what. About ten minutes later, we're here with hardly any air left," he explained.

He then frowned, glancing back to his otherself. "Are these guys clones or something?" asked the alien Falco, looking flustered and frustrated.

The Junior vulpine shook his head. "No, the blackhole sent us all into another dimension, where we exist, but everything is different," Fox said. "Life is altered from the way things are in our universe. Some of us have taken different paths in life and even Lylat is slightly different."

"Then where's your twin?" Lombardi from the other side asked, trying not to look as pensive as he was feeling.

"He took off for some reason, but said he'll be back. But now that you guys are here, we're going to get in contact with him, as soon as possible. C'mon, let's get you three to the infirmary," Junior said, eager to make sure his friends were unharmed.

"Where are we?" Falco asked, this time directing his question to his other half.

"GreatFox medium cruiser. Our home," Lombardi to his other half. The way the two were dressed was a complete difference in every way possible. The alternative Falco was wearing combat fatigues, a flight jumpsuit with the Cornerian military insignia and his head feathers gave him a well groomed look, regardless of being the team's bad-boy.

Meanwhile, the Falco from this universe looked more like a rebel. A bandana was wrapped around his forehead, pushing his feathers up into a messy mohawk. Sunshades were over the bandanna, perched above his forehead. His leather jacket and denim pants were worlds apart from his military counterpart.

The unconscious Slippy, on the other hand, looked nothing like Slippy, from this world. In fact, the slumbering toad resembled Beltino more than his indigenous 'brother', who was scrawnier and shorter. The wounded, sleeping frog had broader shoulders, wore a large purple amphiboid multipurpose necklace and the wounded, unconscious Peppy Hare looked stronger and healthier than the equal aged Hare that now knelt down to help pick them up from the ground. Peppy looked down at himself, as if looking in a mirror. He looked damn good, as if he was still only 45 again. It was then that he decided the military must have kept him young, along with the exercise and ... that's when he noticed a wedding band on his counterpart's left paw.

There would be time for questions later, for now, the group made sure to get the Alternative Falco and the rest of Junior's team into the medical bay. That left Krystal and Fox Junior to get back to the bridge and get a hold of Mac. Boy, wouldn't the home-team Fox be surprised that the Visiting-team Fox's entire crew arrived...

-

-

The group in the medical bay had been in fierce discussion, to try and list every difference they could, before trying to figure out all the similarities. Some of these differences were rather small, from the way Fox Junior prefered to dress, normally, wearing his dad's red flight scarf tucked up, underneath of his neck, where Fox, the son of James, never cared for something that silly looking. General Pepper from the alternative Lylat, where Junior and Fara came from, had some measure of sugar-blood disorder, where the sunshade wearing General usually found relaxing solace in the form of a lolly pop.

Slippy from the other side dated a woman named Croakella, who his doppelanger from this side had a crush on in school. Also, the buffer, broader, deeper voiced croaking Slippy had a speech impediment, stuttering and stammering over some words, on occasion. The two were quite different, indeed. More so than the other teamates to their counterparts.

Peppy came to learn that his alternative counterpart was married to the woman he'd always been afraid to ask out, in his youth. Annie Hare had become a published writer and her husband was a fit military man, even at 59 years old. Also, Peppy from the other side, had a name for his race, other than Lapine. The Pandorians had rich ruby irises and were telepathic to a degree. It wasn't as intense as Krystal's abilities, but the two would be able to get acquainted later, as Krystal and Fox Junior had left to try and contact Mac, who was busy diamond shopping with Snowy.

The indigenous Peppy felt slightly ashamed by his superior other half and vowed to himself, that exercise, more medication and taking care of his health was never too late. It was definitely better than working on maps and sleeping all day. His alternative counterpart was more fit, had less of a gut and looked strong and healthy. Who knew, maybe it was from having a wife.

It was determined that Slippy's mom, who died in birthing complications after an automobile accident, was supposed to birth both the stammering, broader shouldered toad and the smaller, squeaky voiced toad. That made them brothers, in one another's eyes. Beltino felt absolutely pleased to be able to embrace the son who was never born from the C-section, so many years ago. The three marveled at the differences between the fraternal twins while the two Falco's recounted stories of growing up, recounting how things were different with Katt Monroe and how the Military life was different from the Mercenary life.

Fara didn't even realize Krystal and Fox Junior had left the room, she was enjoying the company of her friends and her team so very much, that the thought of jealousy never crossed her mind.

-

Up on the bridge, Junior and Krystal were speaking to Fox. From across the Lylat system, Krystal couldn't really get a clear reading on what her mate was up to, but she knew he was doing something secretive. He was with Snowy and now, his nephew Kit. The Indigenous Fox was surprised to learn of a paternal family member on this side, recounting a first cousin on the Reynard side, a nephew of his deceased mother, named Gray Landry. But Gray, here, in this world, never exhisted, because Vixy and her sister both passed away, on this side, from the car bomb accident.

On that side, Vixy had an older sister, who never went to the store with Vixy, when the car bomb 'accident' happened. Over on that side, Gray, who was a bit of a trouble maker in his youth, was sent to boarding school until 16, and hadn't met Fox Junior until a few years later. But the story swapping came to a conclusion when Krystal finally announced, "C'mon. Bring Snowy and Kit if you like, but it's easier if you're here. So we'll be waiting for you."

That would give the Fox McCloud from this universe and his nephew and friend some time to get themselves together before heading back to GreatFox. Krystal slipped into the commanding chair, drawing one foot up on the seat's edge, wrapping one arm around her knee, tucked against her chest. Fox Junior sat down in a nearby chair and smiled slightly.

"I want you to know," Krystal began, "I think you and Fara Phoenix are a wonderful match. How do you think I could earn her respect?"

"I think she respects you, and will respect you more when she sees your piloting abilities. I'd go out on a patrol with her. Then let her spend some time with your Fox McCloud, let her see how different we are. She'll realize then it's just like John Smith. Two people by the same name with incredibly different personalities," replied Junior. "There must be a million John Smiths in the world, and none of them are alike."

"Well, what do you think about your counterpart?" Krystal asked.

"I've not made any opinions yet, that would be premature," Fox Junior said with a knowing smile. Krystal could read that he was honestly _that _open minded and smiled softly. "Furthermore," McCloud said, "I see he's got quite an arsenal of different vehicles. I can't drive a tank or pilot a submarine, I was never trained to do that kinda stuff. I'm not saying it's beyond my ability, but it's beyond my training."

"Fox is self taught," She said, speaking of her own mate. "He spends time doing practice on his fighters and vehicles, but I understand you go through far more rigorous flight training, boosting through suspended rings and formation flying and whatnot," She said after reading his thoughts.

"Mm, that's right. Very astute," Junior smiled.

The azure vixen of the cardinal-sun tribe tilted her head. "I'm telepathic, sweetheart. That's why I'm able to trust you and look past Fara's dislike for me, because I see who you both truly are. That warms my soul, you're both very pure of heart and spirit," Krystal explained.

"Well I appreciate your kind words," Fox said, trying not to blush. Krystal decided immediately that both McCloud's were easy to embarrass. It was cute, but it was also modest, masculine and an attractive quality about each Fox. Krystal was beginning to understand what Fara spoke of, by adding up the similarities between the two men. It wasn't fair, to some extent, that another woman would get to know the special, intimate qualities of her own Mate.

-

Katt Monroe glanced at her sensor readout. She must have missed the boat. She had parted ways with Slippy Toad so he could go and catch up with his father and never made it back to the rendezvous area, but she knew that her reputation had probably caused Slippy to think nothing of it and leave.

A frown touched the feline's muzzle and she decided to call Falco on the matter, later, and let him know what happened. Really, she just didn't want him to worry, not that he would. Had she paid attention to the time better, she'd not have just disappeared the way she was known for doing.

She piloted her ship back from Corneria, heading straight out, passed Katina. Everytime she was in town, she made sure to at least say hello to Bill, who'd become a trusted friend if nothing else. As she approached the planet, a small green dot appeared on her readout and a computer chirp was heard, drawing her attention to the blip.

Blue was an allied mark, red was a hostile mark, but green was something the computer could not identify. The closer she came to the sensor mark, the more she thought it was a simple glitch. She was nearly ontop of the green dot on her display but saw no ship or fighter. Infact, there wasn't even so much as a television satellite over the planet in this sector of space.

Without warning, a bolt of energy lanced from out of empty space, glancing passed her fighter and striking the ground below. Passing through the planet's atmosphere, the sky beneath her lit up in a bright display of multiple hues, which slowly dissipated into the normal coloration. Curiosity got the better of the feline and she eased down into the stratosphere, descending upon Katina to investigate.

Her fighter was temporarily surrounded by an orange glow from the heat. Beneath her craft, the grays, blacks and tinny colors of the city came into view, through the clouds. The scorch mark was nearly in the center of the downtown area. Another high energy bolt lanced out, crashing into the same impact spot, a second hint that this wasn't simply lightning.

Her flight recorder confirmed what she thought she'd seen. The bolt came from out of nowhere, hundreds of miles above the planet's surface, striking down at some unlucky person who was currently at ground zero. She could only wonder who was probably in that area, when the double bolt slammed into the paved ground, below, leaving a massive crater in it's wake.

Far beneath her fighter, Fox McCloud, indigenous to this universe, was driving, while Kit and Snowy were in the back seat, getting friendly. A massive bolt of energy lanced out from the heavens, striking the ground, searing it with incredible heat. A wave of steamy ripples gushed through the surrounding area when suddenly a second bolt of incredible energy pulverized the downtown area, up ahead.

A tectonic shift began, causing a rip through the downtown area, which caused Mac to swerve the compact coupe away from a parked tractor trailer which began to tip towards them. In his rearview mirror, he could see the massive transport crash down upon it's side, unceremoniously, causing a nearby pickup truck to be catapulted into the air, landing upside-down on the sidewalk.

"What in the hell?" Kit shouted to his Uncle, as if hoping he could explain what was going on. Fox kept quiet, keeping his focus on avoiding a collision. The compact was rear-wheel drive, which was coming back into popularity as of late, causing a long black streak behind them, from where he had floored the accelerator to avoid the tipping 18 wheeler.

The car spun to the left, facing the wrong way now. But control was never lost. Fox had his hand on the shifter, throwing the transmission into reverse, to keep from losing momentum. He then placed his right arm across the backrest of the empty passenger seat, glancing over his shoulder to see where he was going. He didn't have enough room to stop and turn around just yet.

"Snow, you've got insurance, right?" He shouted.

"...Yes!" Her pause was due in part from the surprise of his question, the reality of getting her car crushed not the foremost thought on her mind, so much as not getting killed. The ground continued to shake, causing large boulders from skyscrapers to come screaming down at them, pelting the street in a death hale.

"Good! Hold on!" He shouted, ramming the trunk of the car into two parked cars that were blocking the road up ahead. The compact's trunk collided between the two cars, forcing them to part ways, and only causing Snowy's trunk to crumple just slightly. Fox then brought his right paw back to the wheel, throwing it into a spin as hard as he could. The car arced around at 180 degrees, and his paw wrapped around the wheel, catching and cutting it back.

He dropped the car into drive. Now they were facing the right direction, and he quickly floored the gas peddle. The partially crumpled car screamed back into second gear, the automatic transmission finding it's place once more. The RPM readout climbed to 7,000 before dropping into 3rd gear at 4,500 rotations per minute. The tiny four cylinder gave all it could, trying to deliver the aggressive driver's need for speed.

A telephone pole reached out, threatening to smash in the passenger-side window, causing Snowy to cringe, pushing herself into Kit's arms. The light little vehicle fishtailed, coming to a stop, after colliding with a canopy at a bus-stop on the corner of a street. The car sat lopsided on the curb, the back tire several inches off the ground, spinning free.

Fox punched the peddle, but the rear passenger tire churned without resistance and the car remained stationary. A forlorn expression was plastered on his face as he tried rocking the car back and forth to make it slide off the curb. Fox pounded the dash, trying the maneuver again, only to be startled by the snow leopard's sudden scream.

A large concrete block was plummeting towards the street, high above them. At any moment, it would careen into their car and kill all three of them instantly. Fox pulled on the door handle, as he glanced up through the windshield, leaning over the dashboard, but from the car taking so much impact abuse, the automatic mechanism failed, jamming the doors shut.

"Dammit!" Fox shouted, drawing his elbow back and slamming it into the glass to his left. The tempered driver-side door window only resembled a spider's web, now. His arm hurt, but he didn't have enough room in the driver's seat, to draw his arm back far enough to really put all his weight

behind the strike... and at any moment, they'd be crushed.

A shadow engulfed the car as the boulder was so close that they only had enough time to mutter the first sentence of the Goddess's prayer. But once Fox heard Kit and Snowy reach the second stanza, he had to look out of the windshield and see why they weren't dead yet.

A pink and white trimmed spacecraft was hovering only several meters above them, using the shields to balance the building chunk over it's shiny, feminine paint job. Fox had never felt so lucky to see Katt Monroe's fighter, in his life. He decided then and there, he was going to hug her and buy her dinner, despite how flirty she sometimes got.

The fighter's Z-axis was shifted, causing the pitch to roll forward. The massive corner of skyscraper flopped forward, slamming into the street behind the car, safely, into a nearby parking lot. The fighter lowered, descending over them, protectively. Fox's beating heart belied both worry and newfound relief.

McCloud's wrist communicator fluttered to life and Katt's voice could be heard from the speaker built into his electronic gauntlet, under his sleeve. It was the voice of an angel, delivering them from the hand of evil, to be sure. Mac couldn't be happier. A glance down at the diamond ring he'd just purchased reminded him that maybe it was fated that he married Krystal, before kicking the proverbial bucket.

"You guys okay?" Katt said over the channel.

"We are now. The earthquake's still coming in tremors, but I think the bulk of it is over," Fox explained. "But what the hell was that lightning bolt, I thought they never strike the exact same place, twice," Fox muttered.

"I don't know how true that is," Katt replied, adding, "But that was no lightning bolt. If you could see it from the air, it leveled half a city block with each blast. Looks like it knew right where to hit, too."

"How does she mean?" Kit asked.

Hearing the other voice in the background, Katt replied, "It struck a tectonic plate and caused a shift. I don't know what magnitude but from where I'm at, I can see that Pearl Bay bridge is collapsed, in the distance."

"Good Goddess," Snowy said under her breath. "All right, Kit. Let's call in and make sure the Military doesn't need any fighter pilots, then let's get outta here, for a moment."

"Agreed," Kit muttered, glancing out the window at the devastation that surrounded them on all sides. It made his heart sink, wondering what the death toll would be. More importantly, what caused that big bolt of light to strike twice? He'd never been in the middle of such a wild natural disaster before.

-

Back on GreatFox, just two hours later, Fox stashed the ring in his sock drawer. He'd give it to Krystal and ask her to hold onto it until her birthday, but right now, he wanted to get up on the bridge of his ship. Along with Katt, Kit and his girl, Diane. The Snow Leopard was the first to approach Fara and shake her hand, introducing herself. Fox Junior was no where to be seen, yet.

Falco and Peppy were on the bridge, waiting to break the news to Fox in person. After explaining that Slippy was in the medical bay, Peppy decided to give Fox a chronological report of everything in order and let him sort out the awkward gaps.

"All right, Fox," The aging Hare said, pointing to the commanding seat. Fox sat down and waited to see what Peppy had been so vague about, up to this point. "It's like this, Fox. First of all, that bolt of energy, it's happened on Corneria, Katina, Fortuna and was even reported on Venom. Here's where it gets weird," Peppy added, licking his lips apprehensively. This was going to be interesting to explain. Sure, Krystal and Fox Junior told him to come back to the base but they never really got into the reason _why._

"While you were gone," He continued, "First, we had another breach in the wormhole, bit. The rest of Fox Junior's team arrived and they're recuperating in the sick ward. They didn't get the same toxic treatment Fox Junior and Fara Phoenix had received, but either way, we'll go down and see them in a moment."

"All right," Fox said, nodding slowly, trying to digest all of this that was going on at once. "Go on, I can tell there's more," said McCloud, shifting his weight back into his commanding chair.

"Indeed, there is," Peppy sighed, putting his weight back against a nearby console. "We found the probe that we launched into the wormhole originally. It collided with Fox and Fara's packing crate, when they came through, but the collision disrupted the transponder. We had no clue where it had gone, but it was still recording data. Slippy... both of them, tracked it down by tracing it's data stream which is being reported to GreatFox. It's sitting on Fortuna, and we need the black-box recorder disc because it's been inside the wormhole and anything it has to offer might help get our new guests back home."

"That's excellent news! Set a course!" Fox said. Heck, it was the first good news he'd had since picking out the perfect ring for Krystal. That seemed like several days ago, oddly. After nearly getting crushed in an earthquake, time had seemed to stand still in the last few hours, making the morning seem like a distant memory.

"Since the rest of Fox Junior's team showed up, we've been seeing more and more of these electronic interference storms around the system," Peppy said. "Slippy isn't at liberty to assume they're completely related events, just yet, but it's the best I can think of. So if we can figure out how to fix it, maybe we _will _get paid, after all," Peppy said with a light grin. He knew that would at least sound like a plus to Fox.

"Damn right, we will," McCloud chimed in. "Where's Krystal?"

Fara was the first to reply, this time. "She's down with the rest of my team. We're not exactly on speaking terms right now."

"Erm," Fox was confused. "I wasn't gone _that _long was I? What happened?"

"We just... don't see eye to eye, Mac. It's a female thing, it's difficult to explain." Fara looked down, embarrassed, as if disappointed in herself, especially being this way in front of her Mate's other half. She offered a lopsided smile, trying not to blush at the fact she was acting like a school girl over the entire situation.

"I'm not sure if it's such a good idea that Fox Junior and I spar now, I don't want you guys getting competitive or anything worse than you guys already are," Fox muttered. Fara tilted her head, not having heard about the sparring offer previous to now. She simply dismissed the comment for the moment and changed the subject to better change the mood.

"So, you got something for Krystal's birthday, according to Falco. What'cha get?" She asked, smiling sheepishly.

"An engagement ring," Fox replied, placing his right paw behind the nape of his neck, knowing it was only going to stir up more crap. Fara's heart sank, but she offered a pitiful, defeated smile, instead of any rebuttal. Truly, Fox McCloud could be happier with another woman even in her world, if things were just slightly different. Her stomach turned to ice and she felt sick.

"Fara," Fox said, closing his eyes with a sigh, "You're a great girl and everything," He paused and then thoughtfully added, "It's like this. There's somebody for everyone. Fox Junior is for you, you're for Fox Junior. Personally, and don't take offense to this, but you're not my type. And Fox Junior doesn't appear to be Krystal's type, just from the little bit I've seen. She's very blunt, very honest. And she doesn't really seem attracted to Fox Junior. Trust me, if she was, I'd be jealous."

"I'm not your type?" She said, tilting her head. Fox nodded in reply, patted her shoulder and walked passed her. She was hot, by all means, she was a knock out, but there was something Krystal had about her that caused his heart to skip a beat every single time he saw her, glanced at her tail, looked into her eyes, put her up against a wall and kissed her... He couldn't even place it.

"Where you headed?" Fara asked as Fox approached the door. He smiled quietly. He was going to talk to Krystal and straighten this out but he really didn't know how to word the fact he was going to play adult, because, lord knows, with all the pizza boxes and soda cans that usually littered the bridge, he was anything but an adult, half the time. "Well?" She persisted with a half-knowing grin.

Mac shrugged, slightly. "To right a few wrongs. You and Krystal are awesome pilots and anyone who's good enough for _any_ Fox McCloud, from _any_ universe, gets my seal of approval. I don't see why you guys aren't buddies, but if you guys wanna duke it out or something, I'm sure we could find enough mud to fill the Rec Room..._somewhere_."

"Oh, my...Goodness," Fara said, throwing an Arwing model at him. He ducked out into the hallway with a swanky grin, quickly making his way down the corridor. Fara just shook her head, seeing the difference between the two men, now.

Fox stepped into the medical bay, patting Slippy on his shoulder, looking to the three team members from another universe, sitting in his ship's medical ward, engaged in conversation with one another. Beltino stood between a strong, healthier looking Peppy and a very different looking Slippy Toad, while the slightly-more mature Falco was engaged in conversation with Krystal. Fox Junior was here as well, glad his friends were safe.

Mac made his rounds, shaking paws with each new guest, welcoming them to GreatFox. He then stopped, turning to Junior and patted his shoulder, exclaiming, "Well! 'Ello, Guv'na! The band's all here! Jolly good!" Junior raised a brow, not quite getting the humor but smiled politely, regardless. "I'm glad everyone's here and alive. It's crazy out there, all sorts of crazy stuff happening around the galaxy since you guys popped up," The roguish Fox added.

The foreign Slippy cleared his throat, speaking in a deeper, stammering voice to address Mac's concerns. "It's

possible the abnormality is such an anomaly, the abomination is c-c-causing micro tears in the l-l-liniar fabric. B-b-basically, we shot out of one hole, energy is sh-shooting out of other holes, that seem to re-seal themselves right away. I d-d-don't know how sending us back will fix it. Maybe we should t-t-try to fix it before we leave."

"Good idea," Mac said. "Let's solve one problem at a time, in order. Two heads are better than one. Any ideas where to start?"

The foreign Peppy grinned, turning to Fox. "No, but you know something, don't you?" Fox tilted his head, was this guy just really sharp? Peppy addressed his unspoken concern by adding, "I'm about as telepathic as your girlfriend over there. Well, perhaps she's a bit better tuned in than I am, but it's pretty close."

"I...see," Mac said, looking flustered. "Well, all right, to address what you just said? Yeah you're right. I just found out the Probe we used on the first hole, just as Fox Junior and Fara came through, landed on Fortuna. So I've comprised a landing party to retrieve the object," he explained.

"Who's the team?" Junior asked, pushing his paws into his pockets.

Mac fought the urge to say, 'me, myself and I,' so he simply settled on the blunt truth. "Just me. Why? Anyone else wanna volunteer to romping around in the blistering snow?"

"Snow? On Fortuna?" Falco asked, looking confused. On his world, Fortuna was the home to massive animal-like creatures. There was hardly even snow at the polar ice caps, because the way the environment was set up.

"Yeah, it's about 68-to-105 degrees at the equator on that planet. There's one part that's pretty sub-tropic but...well. It's pretty nippy everywhere else. Just be glad the thing didn't land up near the poles. It gets over 120 degrees BELOW zero, there, on a warm day with no wind," Fox muttered.

"So where did it land?" The uniformed Lombardi inquired, running his fingers through his hair. He, like _his _world's Slippy, had a voice that was just a touch deeper than the Falco that Mac was used to, upstairs. "Cold part or nice part?"

McCloud looked at his Junior Counterpart before looking back to Junior's Lombardi and frowned. "It's not in the coldest region, but it's pretty darn cold, where it landed. I guess we're both lucky and unlucky at the same time," He added, glancing back to Junior. "You should stay here, keep on guard for anything that may happen. I want both Slippy's and Beltino to stay here and get to work on a way home. And Falco? It's in two pieces, one in each, cold and hot part of the planet."

The foreign, telepathic Peppy Hare raised a brow, seeing just where Mac was going with this, in the sense that he was trying to divide the teams up baised on their strengths. He looked over the two McClouds, seeing just how different they were right away. But the thing is, this indigenous McCloud had some sort of idea, using this trip as some measure of Ulterior Motive, he just couldn't play his paw on it. "Who're you taking with you?" He finally asked.

Mac shrugged, giving a wry grin. Krystal picked up on it too, suddenly realizing exactly who he was about to take with him, since no one really volunteered. It caused her to gasp. "No, you'd better not!" She said, gawking at her mate.

"Oh yeah. You and Fara are with me. I need the ace of diamonds and the ace of clubs in the air," Mac added, speaking of Falco and his currently present Doppelganger, who raised his brows, watching the vulpine for a moment, then looking back to his actual team leader before adding his own deep voice into the mix, with a simple, "Interesting."

"I don't know," Junior said, not wanting his team split up and away from him in such a foreign place, at least not so soon. "Do you think it's a good idea, Peppy? Having everyone split up like this?"

"Mind your own business, Fox," Falco muttered, glancing down at the rank on his sleeve before glancing back up to his Wing Commander. "If I can handle taking care of my Squadron Leader, I think I can handle ...myself."

"Cute," Junior said, shuttering to remember the last time his best friend had to fist fight with him, just because he wasn't taking care of himself. It had become a very private message between Fox Junior and Lombardi, not as fast friends, but as best friends. Whenever Fox let his emotions get in the way of his military training, Lombardi would refer to help 'take care' of his Squadron Leader. It helped Fox realize that he was letting his emotions get in the way of being a leader, before things digressed to physical contact again.

"You're right," Junior said, glancing from Lombardi to the other McCloud. "It's best to keep the team in small groups, baised by their strengths. But don't you think we should keep Peppy and Krystal together, to put their abilities together?"

Mac shook his head, "No need for it right now. It's best to have a telepath with the ground team, and a telepath with the science team, to help put things together. Krystal isn't a science guru, she's a field expert, in many ways. I'd rather have her with the away-team, more or less. Have your Peppy help get the Cornerian scientists and the Toad Trio onto the same wavelength, so we can get things done more quickly."

Junior, with his military training had a different idea, but for now, he'd let Mac try things his way. His military training told him that each team knew their own members best, so it was best to keep those teams together, so they could maximize their efficiency. But Mac's way had merit, as well. Plus it would let each group get to know themselves, well.

Having Slippy work with himself, having Falco fly with himself, and having the two Peppy's work with the military team, because one could keep everyone on the same thought page, by making sure no one went without mentioning something important, while the other took a serious hobby with mapping things, to possibly detail a journey back through the wormhole.

Junior finally reached his paw towards Mac, in an offering. "We'll try it your way, bud. Bring back my Fiancé safely," He said. GreatFox's captain reached to take his twin's paw. Fara's own McCloud, who donned a metallic communications headset, lifted his gaze, looking over that white strip of headfur again, which helped distinguish them from one another, then smiled softly. It made him feel unique, in a way. He could trust this guy, and while his judgment and decision making was baised more on emotion than on training and technique, they each had a potent strategic mind but they saw things in different perspectives.

Major Hare wondered to himself, if he could sit them down to a game of Chess, out of 10 games, who would win more than half? Because as different as they were, there would rarely be a stalemate, he was sure. His eyes shifted, looking over to the two, _very_ different Slippy Toads, as they began to discuss how neither knew their mom, but it was neat to know one another. Peppy could feel warmth as the two saw one another as brothers, and it caused him to smile. He then glanced back to Junior and grinned.

"I think it would be wise keeping those two together with their father. They'll get us back through the hole with the help of whomever Mister Phoenix pays to come up here and help us crunch theoretical numbers." Peppy's words were wise, as usual. But they didn't hold the grandfatherly tones that Mac's own Peppy Hare used, due to their differences.

"All right, everyone, let's go get ready. Junior?" Mac's words caused the other Fox to shutter before reciprocating a simple 'yes?' It didn't even bother McCloud that his other half seemed to shun that word. "You tell Fara to meet us on the flight deck. And as far as my cover team and insertion pilot? Hmm, I think, maybe out of pure amusement, and because she's really worth the most in the air, I'm going to have to say that we should put Katt Monroe with both of our Falcon Flyboys. Heh," He paused to snicker. "That should yield some serrious amusement."

"Amusement?" The question was posed by both Falco and McCloud Junior, simultaneously.

"Well, erm," Mac ran his fingers back through that milky strip of headfur. "She's upstairs. She... I owe my tail to her right now, she brought us back safely. But uh, our Falco can't stand her, they used to date. And putting her in flight with two Falco Lombardi's should probably make things rather humorous," he admitted.

The blue feathered First Lieutenant raised a brow. "On my..." He stopped to glance at the rest of his team, then corrected himself, "_our_ side, Katt was an old gang member when I was in my teenage years. We met up two years ago, on my 27th birthday and we've been dating. She doesn't annoy me," He continued, glancing to Junior, who looked like he wanted to offer his own two cents.

"Are you sure you want to add something that could be volatile, in this world, into the mix for your fighter cover?" he asked his mercenary half.

"Katt is one of those women who will go out of her way to help you a few times, and while she's still trying to date _my_ Falco, who doesn't want anything to do with her, she'd be very important to this mission. And yes, it would be damned funny. Infact, I think I'll want the blackbox recordings of the entire flight, because I want to hear my Falco cussing himself for being stuck with her, and a Falco who's not opposed to relationships with a Katt Monroe in some form. Heh heh."

"You're awful," Junior said, shaking his head. "But at least you take the work itself with some measure of seriousness."

"I'm always serious. I'm just not the kinda guy who folds his uniforms at the crease lines, irons his shirts twice and presses his pants. I don't even polish my officer's shoes, because I don't own a pair," said the indigenous McCloud, smirking at the high ranking Colonel McCloud, who just didn't seem to get the joke.

"Well, at least I don't leave pizza boxes on the bridge, or beer cans in the trash bins, Fox," Junior said.

"Oh c'mon. I don't wanna argue with you about how we live our life. Let's just get the mission going. If we find out there's something sinister at foot here, we can put all of our heads together, save Lylat while sending you guys home, and make a quick paycheck in doing so. Now," Mac said, clearing his throat. "Let's get this thing from Fortuna, so I can figure out if I need to send Pepper a retainer fee or not. Don't worry, I'm not as obsessed with money as I sound, I just don't think putting the lives of my friends and teammates in danger is something that should be done for free. Now, let's move out," Mac said, patting his military-self upon the cheek.

-

-

Fara sighed. She looked passed her love, across the bridge, to Slippy, his other-self and their father. For a moment, she was distracted. Both Slippy's were incredibly different, and yet both were exceedingly intelligent in their own way, especially when it came to techno gadgets and whatnot.

They stood only ten feet away, talking about some woman named Croakella. Her attention returned to the smooth, well trimmed visage of her true love and she smiled weakly. "I suppose. What about you? Where will you be?"

Junior scritched his fingertips beneath her jaw and smiled brightly at how she was taking the news of having to go on a mission with Mac and Krystal. "I'm actually supposed to fly with Fox's nephew and his girl, collecting information on where these bolts of energy are ripping apart sections of Lylat. So far, all we know is that they've only appeared in places that were heavily populated. Right now," he said, looking back to Beltino and his two sons of the same name, "it's assumed that the largest populated groups are a negative attracting energy source for the positrons to be magnetically attracted to, causing it to strike at densely populated cities."

"There's gonna be a but," Fara said. She always knew her mate brought out information by ending his statements with a conjunction, to bring out point A, followed by point B. It was his way.

"You're right," Fox Junior said, his paw still beneath her jaw. "_But _the thing is, there were several cases where it _didn't _strike from space, hitting _thee_ most densely populated areas. It's only struck in the most densely populated military or strategic areas. Almost like attacks... with purpose."

"That sounds bad," Fara said with a sigh. "All right, I'll go with Mac and Krystal. I'll keep my mind on the mission and won't let my personal feelings get in the way. I love you, Fox."

"I love you too," he said, kissing her softly. She then turned back to Slippy 1, Slippy2 and their father. She had to get ready to go, but something about their differences and their unique situation made her currious about them.

"You dated Croakella in college? That's so messed up! I didn't have the nerve to ask her out, and when I finally did, she wasn't overly interested, how did you get her to date you?" Toad asked his otherworldly brother.

The other Slippy's slightly deeper voice bellowed from his 'fryer Tuck -esque' build, with a slight chuckle, as he held the photograph of his ex girlfriend. "Well, you see, I think she l-l-liked the d-d-deep voice and stammering. I've b-b-been working on it, but it was a turn on to her. I think she thought it was c-c-cute. We only d-dated for about t-t-t-t-two years. We got s-s-serious for a while but we lead very d-d-different lives. You know how that goes," He said, still gazing at the photograph of the amphibious female in his webbed palm.

Fara then turned back to Fox and leaned forward to kiss him good-bye, running her tongue gently along the corner of his muzzle, which was the practice for courting vulpines, before their lips meet in one last smooch. "See you when I get back. Good luck with Mac's nephew and the other one. I only met them for a moment but I'm sure I'll get to know them better when I get back," She said.

Walking off the bridge, she passed the most dubious group of all time, in the hallway. Falco Lombardi, Lieutenant Falco Lombardi and the leather-clad pink Feline, Katt Monroe, who dressed much the way Katt Monroe used to dress in her world, years prior. Seeing Katt and the mercenary Falco both wearing black jackets and relaxed attire that shouted "rock and roller", she had to wonder if this Lylat just never grew up.

But Peppy here, was more of a grandfather and old war vet, than her Peppy, who was just the senior aged combat pilot, who was simply kind enough to help a rookie, while making the job look easy. General Pepper, here, didn't wear a pair of sunshades or eat Lolly Pops, and didn't seem the kind who might shave to old rock music. He smiled and joshed with Fox on a personal level but had a very very serious side, unlike her own Pepper who was more charismatic and friendly, even in times of business.

It was a strange universe, that was for sure. She sauntered passed the arguing trio, who sought to sort out their differences before climbing into a cockpit and decide who should be the alpha squad leader in their small squadron. She continued on, trying not to pay them any mind, for the moment. At the end of the hallway, she boarded the elevator to the flight deck, avoiding the lengthy hallway, regardless of the fact that it was designed to be a quick, direct route to the fighters in time of attack.

She approached Krystal, offering her paw in a truce. Krystal smiled, seeing her intentions and shook, before the two turned to McCloud for a quick briefing.

McCloud cleared his throat and said, "Look. I'm doing this for two reasons. One, you're both supposed to be good in the field. Two, I want Junior in the sky, where he belongs. He's a trained pilot, with no formal training on the ground. That's fair enough. I won't put him in danger," He said with a smile. "And of course, I want to teach the future McCloud women how to get along," he added with a smirk.

Krystal blushed, but forced her expression to melt into a grin at being refered to as a 'future McCloud woman.' It was the first time her Fox had _ever_ made mention to wanting to be married to her. There was something else, behind that thought, as if he had some sort of plans hatched up, but it was difficult to read, because he was trying to not think about it, whatever the secret was.

"All right, girls. We're going to be suited in thermal wear, because it's gonna be 40 below, where we are. The probe split apart in the atmosphere, which it's designed to do, to avoid complete capture," Fox said to them. "So one part is in the cold and one part is in the subtropics, where it's about 90 degrees in the winter season. For that, we'll need vests and shorts, with material that breathes. It's going to be miserable in both sections but I'd rather get the cold part out of the way, first."

"No LandMaster tank to get us through the snow?" Krystal asked.

"We're going to be out on a 19 mile block of ice. A two and a half ton battle tank isn't going to get us very far, but I'll have Peppy use the transfer beam to place one on the surface for us, so we can make the 2,300 mile trek down to the tropical region. But," Fox said, pausing for effect. Fara noticed that was one of his similarities to her own mate. "You know how _sterling _our transfer device is. It could wind up a mile from us, or it could wind up stuck in the ice, so the first part of the mission is on foot. Then we've got to clear a mountain; I'll have the LandMaster beamed into the valley. The Lake is at the foothills, we get our device, we scale the mountain, go down the other side, pick up our LandMaster and thaw out on the ride south, into our next area."

"I've never been mountain climbing before," Krystal mused, before adding, "In the snow. Do we have some measure of anti-avalanche gear?"

Fara answered for her, "Yeah. Luck. Do you expect one to happen?"

"As a matter of fact, on a region rarely touched, the powder slips in sheets, causing hundreds of tons of sticky snow, which takes more snow along with it, to come crashing down over your body, accelerating to over 200 miles an hour in under a minute. Most sports cars can't outrun that. Avalanches are usually caused by people who don't belong on the mountain in those conditions, to begin with," Krystal said, trying her best to keep her tone absolutely pleasant.

"Then I guess we'll have to be careful," Fox butted in, clearing his voice. He hated seeing the two women argue and hoped this mission would bring them a little closer together. Krystal could tell that was his intention and decided to make things easier on her mate by keeping things smooth.

Fara on the other hand, could only hope that this Fox and his plan of action, was going to go as well as he had hoped. She was used to trusting the instinct of her own, to whom she was betrothed. This was going to take some getting used to. This Fox had a different way of thinking, and she wasn't on the same wave length as him. Sure, this Fox was a little less manner-tempered or basically mature, but really, for the first time, she realized just how different the two McClouds could be, regardless of their _obvious _similarities.

(next)

Chapter -5- Course of action; Price of Freedom.


	4. Chapter 5

Fixed the punctuation being eaten in this. woooooooord.

-ken

Chapter -5- Course of action; Price of Freedom.

Fox McCloud, son of James and Lylat Mercenary stood on what could have been a frozen lake, the foothills of a steep mountain directly behind him. On either side of him, stood the lovely Krystal of Cerinia and Fara Phoenix, wrapped in special thermal suits and covered with Gortex winter wear. Each had a special face mask designed to fit their muzzle, which had been sculpted by laser up on the GreatFox. Above them, the transport shuttle fought it's way back through the blizzard and vanished up through the stratosphere.

Fox lost sight of it only a third of a mile out, regardless of the slight break in the storm's intensity. Now was their window to act. The team was fitted with special snow shoes that would allow them the most traction on the ice and going up the mountain. He pulled his locator unit out and squinted through the light coating of powder accumulating on his mask at the flashing device in his paw.

He did a sideways head-nod in the direction they were heading, both girls nodding in compliance. They began a brisk pace out onto the ice, heading further out towards the center of the frozen lake. Fox pressed a button on his wrist communicator, mashing his fingers through the special rubberized film that Slippy... his Slippy... outfitted for it, so that it wouldn't freeze over.

"Falco 1 and 2, how are you guys doing up there? Katt just dropped us off, everything look kosher?" He asked.

"Yeah," came the reply of the Ace Pilot Mercenary Falco Lombardi, adding, "I'm glad I ain't down there. I hate the cold, man. But I think I feel even worse for the girls. Don't try to put any moves on Krystal while you're down there, to keep warm. Her stuff might freeze."

"Falco!" Krystal chimmed in with a measure of shock.

"Oh shoot! Dude, you didn't tell me the girls were patched into our communication grid, Fox!" Lombardi scolded. "Well, uh, sorry about that Krystal. Had I known, I would have said something more along the lines of making fun of Fox for having total shrinkage, you know?"

"That's enough boys," Krystal said, rolling her eyes with an unseen lopsided grin. "Back to the mission, so that no one gets careless. Save the guy-talk for the GreatFox locker room, please?"

Fara didn't say a word, but had to agree with Krystal on that one. Although it was highly amusing, it just wasn't conversation she needed to hear about. The trio braved their way out over the slick ice, striving to make their way across 7 and a half miles of frozen lake. As worried as Fara was about the thing cracking underneath of them and the group falling into the water, their gear was waterproof. The only problem was, it weighed enough that they wouldn't be able to swim out of it and while they wouldn't freeze, thanks in part to their thermal-wear, they would surely drown.

Another miasma of fog-like warm air puffed from her delicate nose, glancing to the other two members of her coterie. It was a long walk in the ice, hiking for 7 miles in restricting arctic gear. Within forty-five minutes, they had made it out to where the first half of the probe was laying in the clearing. It was covered with permafrost and half-blanketed with snow. There were no icicles on the unit, due to the fact that it never got warm enough for the water to drip off the edges, for which to freeze into any sort of shape.

The unit was simply encased in frost that held the object's shape, like wrapping paper. It was the heaviest of the two pieces, as well as the largest of the two. Not that it was really that heavy, but the other part, thousands of miles to the south was only supposed to be half the weight of this piece, which weighed in at about 70 pounds. It would be up to Fox to strap this beast to his back, but for now, they would pull it through the snow, back from which they came.

Due to the absolutely sterling use of the GreatFox transfer device, Fox didn't want to risk putting the Landmaster on this side of the mountain, just to be safe. This meant that it was received on the other side of the steep mountain, back at the edge of the lake. Really, the massive, frozen lake was nestled between two mountains, like a giant puddle of water that may have once filled the valley between two peaks.

"So how did you guys meet again?" Fara asked, finally breaking the silence, as the group pulled the Probe fragment back across the ice with a makeshift sled fashioned from an emergency parachute that Fox kept in his away mission pack. The Chute was only half the size of a skydiving chute, used for absolute emergencies, if he had nothing else to his disposal.

"Well," Krystal said, glad that Fara was making an attempt to be friendly, "I sensed a distress signal from Planet Sauria, an absolutely beautiful planet of lush jungles and beautiful peaks and valleys. I took my ship down and met up with one of the local...well.. dinosaurs, there," She began.

"Yeah? What happened?" Fara inquired, simply making small talk to pass the time and get her mind off of helping to drag a snow-covered hunk of metal across 7 miles of ice. Anything to get her mind off of the fact that beneath her feet was a layer of ice half a foot thick, which separated them from a mile of frozen water.

"I met this ..Pawn, named Scales, who was running the place as a dictator. Come to find out, Andross Oikonni was behind everything. I was in the middle of using my body to carry a spirit of one of the planet's founders to a palace, which I know sounds absolutely bizarre, but it had my telepathic powers dampened. I never sensed that Andross had snuck up on me," She replied with a sigh.

"So Fox came to save you?" Fara asked.

"Actually, we met on accident," Fox said.

"That's right," Krystal continued, glancing back at the machine they towed, every so often. "Andross was trying to use my life-energy and several of the other spirits, used to hold the planet together, with an archaic technology we know nothing about. Andross locked me inside of a glass chamber, using machines to borrow my life force to sustain himself long enough to continue with his plans. But after 8 years, his body was dying and the bionic parts he had added to himself were failing. So after some measure of research, he found out the spirits used to keep the planet stable would be enough to revive his body and rejuvenate himself to heal his dying form, there was just one problem," she explained.

"Which was... the planet became unstable?" Fara concluded.

Krystal nodded. "That's only part of it, Fara. The Spirits could only be harnessed by what

they considered to be pure of heart. Andross was anything _but_ pure of heart. Anyone with good in their soul could have done it. Me, Fox, yourself." Those words caused Fara to smile. Krystal glanced back at the probe behind them, then back ahead to the mountain that began to grow larger as they neared it.

She continued her short story, saying, "The problem was, he thought my one spirit I'd retrieved would be enough. He found out, almost immediately, that it wasn't enough so he employed his backup plan. After luring me there, by using my body to sustain him, but draining my very life force would have killed me in a matter of days. Chunks of the planet ripped off the surface, rising into the atmosphere like something out of a science fiction movie. Fox was called in to save _that_."

"And found you?" Fara wondered aloud.

"No," Fox said, stepping into the conversation. "We later found out that Andross used a large holographic representation of a Krazooa Master-Lord. Tricky, a dinosaur that was helping me, recognized it as a 'true Krazooa'. Andross then had a machine, simulating Krystal's voice. He had her voice played out over a loud speaker in Dinosaur tongue, saying she was dying and in grave danger. As if to drive the point home, he had her voice sound like she was coughing and wheezing, ontop of things. Turns out I had to use these Krazooa spirits to make the spellstones stay in their cradle up in the Force Point Temple, anyhow, so when I finally starting bringing the Spirits back to the palace to save the girl," Fox said before pausing and shifting the weight of the chute ropes to his other paw.

"I never realized it was Andross just using me to gather all the spirits so he could revive his body completely. I didn't think saving the girl was that important, I just wanted to finish the mission before the planet exploded, but I felt so guilty leaving someone in distress .. and it turned out to be crucial to the mission," Fox said before drawing silent once more.

"So," Fara said with a chuckle. "Andross inadvertently played matchmaker for you?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Because of my telepathic powers, I'm able to tap into the vocabulary of new species, so I was able to speak to the dinosaurs and ultimately to speak to Fox and other Cornerians," Krystal said. "When I met the local dinosaurs, there was a storm so bad that I couldn't use my ship to navigate it. I landed and inquired about who could point me in the direction of where to go to answer the distress signal. My outfit was damaged and my gear was mangled, minus a staff my people used as a blaster rifle. The dino's... well, they helped me fashion clothes out of seashells and some cloth. It was a little uncomfortable, but what can you do? What about you? How did you meet your Fox Junior?"

Fara smiled softly at Krystal, who was giving her the chance to talk about her first meeting with her mate, as well. "Well, Andross got us together too, but not as personal as the way he did for you guys. Some of his men hijacked one of my Father's flagship transport vessels, because they were trying to ransom me back to him for enough money to fund another base being built," She began, remembering back to how things happened.

"Then, because Fox was stowing away for a free ride to Corneria, to take Pepper up on a deal, they hopped out of hiding to see what all the commotion was about. The Lizard saw Fox and used me as a body shield, but actually, it was Slippy who rescued me," She said with a chuckle. "But Fox got his chance later. To his surprise, I was the Lead Arwing Test Pilot and we got competitive. Half an hour into the training run, Venom launched an assault on Cornerian controlled airspace, 25 miles from the base. The base had their attention on the assault, Fox and I had our attention on flirting and next thing you know, we flew into hostile airspace."

"How'd he go about saving you?" Fox asked, currious as to what happened to his twin. They were only about a mile from the mountain foothills by now and the conversation was helping to close the gap of animosity between the women, or at least that's how he felt the situation was looking.

"I got... cocky. I was a flight trainer, not a combat pilot. Regardless of having a knack for being fairly developed in combat, at the time, I was 19 - a year older than Fox - and I was young and cocky, compared to now. I took a shot at a troop carrier bot and... I must have blinked because I took the full force of an Ion Cannon. My shields weren't even at full combat ready. The Arwing crumbled around me."

"Oh my," Krystal said, softly. "That's the one thing I worry about, in the back of my mind. What if I'm shot down completely. I worry but it's not happened yet. It must have been dreadful. How did you react?"

"I figured if was dumb enough to try a stunt like that, when I wasn't even trained to fly with teammates ... I deserved it. I wasn't even going to eject, we were surrounded. A woman doesn't eject right into the hands of the enemy, because there are things they can do that are worse than death," Fara explained.

"But?" Fox asked, wanting to see how things panned out.

"But Fox begged me to eject. I asked if he had brought a catcher's mitt, more or less. He made some remark about not having dropped the ball yet, or something. There was so much going on, I don't even remember what he muttered under his breath. Anyhow, he adjusted his blaster arms. You know, the vertical thrust and retro reverse rocket wings on the side? He put them horizontal and caught the pole that connected my ejection seat to the antigravity sail. The chances of someone doing that without ripping the entire starboard side of their Arwing apart... are slim, I'm not sure how he managed it," She told them. Her story was finished and that had brought them right to the foothills of the jagged, steep-looking mountain they needed to pass to get to their tank.

"That's a pretty classy rescue," Fox said with a chuckle.

"Yeah. Peppy referred to you as The Renascence-Fox or something, I believe. It was a long time ago," said Fara, over a giggle.

Fox glanced up at the foreboding mountain and, as if to prolong the need to climb the darn thing, he stopped in his tracks and said, "Well, I hate to break it to ya, but our Arwings don't have a cockpit ejection like the M-Class fighters. The cockpit canopy flies off and you leap out and if you're in space, we have this wonderful little blue barrier. It holds enough air inside the bubble for a few hours at most, so you'd better hope someone picks you up soon."

"Oh? Why wouldn't you have such devices for your safety?" Fara wondered publicly, to her mate's alternative half. "To make your fighters less heavy?"

"Because they don't always work. But jumping out on your own works every time. Yeah your way is safer for the pilot _when_ it works, but I don't want any of my pilots to have died because their trashed fighter caused the ejection mechanism to fail. You either die in combat or you die from age. You don't die because of an accidental machine that was jammed because your fighter is trashed," Fox explained, beginning to pull the parachute out from underneath the probe chassis, wrapping the backpack straps around it and, with Krystal's help, hefting it up onto his shoulders.

"You know, for 75 pounds, this thing is pretty big. It's like a chunk of a speeder bike without the engine or hover pads attached," McCloud groused.

"Well, let's get up and over this mountain, the sooner we get to the Tank and thaw out, the happier we'll _all_ be," Krystal replied, reaching into her field kit for a grapple-hook gun. She loaded the three-prong hook into the small arm-cannon and aimed up towards the summit. "Can you rappel, Fara?"

"It's not the most fun way to spend my free time, but I'll manage," She said with a chuckle. The team began to work their way up the rope, using hooks in the rope loops and the spikes of their boots to work their way up the side of a cliff that seemed to be the safest, most direct route. Any other way up was so jagged, it would have caused injury such an icy region.

About half way up, McCloud was half-startled when his team's Falco popped up on

holographic communication graph, his head floating besides McCloud's body as the vulpine struggled to work his way up the rope. He put a metal spike into the rock and used a small hammer to drill it in, attaching the rope to it before pausing to look at his wingmate. "What is it, man? Something going down up there?"

"Yeah. We've got bad company. It's just one guy, but he was quick. He broke right through our group, leaving us to deal with his gang of ruffian marmosets with sour attitudes. He didn't have the rest of his team with him, it's just him," Falco said.

"Who?" Fox hollered over the wind.

"Wolf O'Donnell! I couldn't get a bead on him. He nearly smoked Katt's transport, so both me and the other Falco were trying to protect her, because she's your ride home," he explained, hating the fact he had to resort to excuses. "I wish I could have shown ya better flying, but yeah... Wolf is already in the atmosphere. Be ready."

"Shit," Fox said under his breath, trying not to let anyone else hear him swear. Krystal could sense his frustrations. Up to this point, she'd not met Wolf. She'd only heard rumors. Supposedly, this guy was flying with Pigma on the day James was captured. Wolf was only about 22 at the time that Fox's father was shot down. He was about 24 by the time Fox reorganized StarFox and got it out on the mission to take down Andross.

Wolf was now 31 years old and was rumored to wear an eye patch. Further than that, it was even rumored that he was dating some woman that Fox was close to, through ties of blood or close-knit friendship. She wasn't sure of the entire situation. She only knew Fox hadn't heard from him for 8 years prior to the Dinosaur planet mission, and now, a year later, it was nearing a decade without a single word from this O'Donnell character. And now, here he was, coming to pay a visit.

Fox continued to climb, trying to push everything, save the success of his mission, from his mind. Krystal could sense his determination to reach the LandMaster but it wasn't enough. Within minutes of nearing the summit, Wolf's fighter came to hover near the cliff so that he could look over at the group dangling from a rope with a smirk.

"Greetings, pup. I see you amateurs are doing exactly what the rumors were saying," Wolf sneered.

"Oh, was that you, Wolf? I didn't even notice you were there. With that giant ego of yours, I thought we were just that close to a second mountain," McCloud muttered over his snow-mask's built in communication headset.

"Well, it's like this," Wolf said. "Bolts of energy have ripped holes in Venom, so I've moved my operations to the Sargasso quadrant. But you know, rumors that started over in the Cornerian cafe that one of my newest team members likes so much, make it sound like you have information to figure out why this is happening and how to stop it."

Wolf leaned forward, peering through his new optical implant. Hmm, McCloud had two women with him. New team members, obviously. But that was strange, because he was almost positive he had passed McCloud out in Sector X, on the way here. He just wanted to come here for those probe parts to sell them to the Cornerian science department for a few dollars. But he wasn't going to sweat it.

Krystal could tell Wolf was somehow able to see the three of them through their suits and was now trying to determine who they were, while looking the two women over. She felt dirty just having his eyes on her, even though his intentions were anything _but _lust. She searched his mind deeper and gasped to herself, realizing that Wolf's mate was a vixen named Nichole McCloud. Were the rumors true, or were they just rumors because this vixen had the same last name as Fox? He'd never mentioned anything up to this point, that was for sure.

"Get on with it, Wolf. I'm kinda busy saving the Galaxy, you pompous bafoon," Fox snapped.

"You know, I just wanted to tell you one thing," O'Donnell said. "While we're here with a moment to spare, since you're just... hanging around."

"Ha ha. Funny as hell, aren't you? Get on with it or go away. Preferably in that order," Said McCloud, as he pulled himself up to the next tenth yard, driving another nail into the frost covered rock face.

From inside of his cockpit, O'Donnell shrugged and told them, "Leon may have tortured Peppy and your old man, for hobby... and Pigma may have been the traitor filth that turned his team in for cash, but I had no part in your old man's death. Yeah, we had a fight, right there on the flight deck. It cost me an eye, so I hauled off and punched him in the face, but I have nothing to do with that man's death."

"Uh, okay. Why are you telling me this?" Fox said, hoisting himself up to the next spike, beginning to near the summit. "Does this have something to do with my damn sister?" His words caused both Fara and Krystal to gape in shock. Even with Krystal's telepathic abilities, neither of them had any clue Fox had a sibling. Wolf nodded, adding, "Yeah. As a matter of fact, it does. That woman means more to me than you can understand. You really need to treat her better. In fact, you should apologize to her for that hot little one liner about how, 'if she was never born, mommy wouldn't have taken the red car to the store for diapers and formula and died in that bomb', crap. No wonder she thinks your a scumbag."

Fox growled in the back of his throat, forming his words slowly and pushing them passed his lips, painfully. "I was 12 when I said that to her. She was a little girl and I didn't mean for it to sound the way she took it. So back off me. To me, you're still that idiot who flies with a moron team of Andrew and Pigma and you're a worthless wannabe pirate. Second rate, at that."

"Listen here, cub," O'Donnell spit, holding back his rage, "That woman is twice the McCloud you are. She has everything that I respected about your father and more. You're half the man he was. I may not get those probe pieces but I still decided to say something non hostile to you. Your sister was right, you're no hero, you're just trying to look like one, living in your father's shadow, you twit."

"Are you done?" Fox said, trying to put his anger aside.

"No," Wolf snapped, taking a moment to get his calm tone back. He only lost his cool when Nicky was involved. And with Fox, this conversation was completely about his mate, Nichole Jaye McCloud. "First of all, Pigma is a piece of shit. Screw that porker. I sent his bacon-butt packing. Personally, I wish he died when ya shot him down, I didn't want him betraying _my_ team. I had respect for a man like James. He was a tough old man. He was twice the pilot _you_ are. Second of all, Andrew is trying to run things out on Venom now. He's even building a base, _right under your nose_," Wolf said, referring to the new construction, right here on Fortuna. Fox and Corneria didn't even know about it, but Wolf sure as hell wasn't going to offer that kind of information. He knew how to keep his mouth shut unless real money was offered.

"As far as my team, we're a trio, now. Maybe if you could learn not to get flustered when someone else is right, you'd have patched things up with Nichole _O'Donnell_ a long time ago," he sneered, a hidden tinge of amusement in his heart. He wanted Fox to think they were already married. That would really piss the kid off. As far as Fox being in his mid 20's now, to Wolf, McCloud was still just a kit. Nothing more than a "mister tough guy" adolescent, at best. He was a good pilot, but Wolf knew _just_ whowas better, and not just from experience, but raw talent. Fox sure as hell wasn't showing enough gull to use his fighter in this blizzard. Wolf, on the other hand, piloted a hovering starcraft, five yards from a mountain cliff.

"Take a hike, lupine," Fox muttered, pulling his first paw up onto the summit.

Wolf chuckled. "Don't worry, I take better care of her than you ever did, _big brother_. I have a measure of respect for you, Fox, that's why I leave you alone anymore. But remember, if _any_one is going to smoke your team, it's going to be StarWolf, and I'm the only one allowed to tan your hide, boy. Now do yourself a favor and stay away from Sargasso. Later, kids." And with that, O'Donnell increased his vertical boost, lifting upwards and disappearing into the whiteout conditions that surrounded them.

"Goddess forbid," Fara said. "That guy is a total goon. He's dating your sister?" She asked. She was incredulous, to say the least, she had no idea this Fox even _had_ a sister. "How old is she? How old is that guy, at that? And what happened with you blaming your mom's death on her?"

"Excellent questions, indeed, Fox. Let's take a break, here at the summit. You can tell us all about it," Krystal agreed as the two women made their way to the top, coming to sit down on a large ledge, to let their aching bodies relax.

"I wasn't even near 10 when Mom was killed. A few years later, we were arguing the way siblings do, and I was 12 and she was about the age I was when I lost mom. I told her that mom went for diapers and formula for _her_ when that bomb exploded. She was only a few weeks old, when mom died, so she never met her mother," Fox confessed, pulling the probe chassises from his back and tying the harness around the two welded pieces. "Our Aunt, Mom's sister, Vicky, died as well. They went to the store together."

"That's still awful," Krystal said before stopping herself. "I mean to say that, you should have somehow made sure she didn't think you blamed her, later in life."

Fox paused before deciding to just explain the best that he could. "She had a tough childhood. It was so bad at one point, that I'd rather not even talk about it. She ran away when she was 16. That was 7 years ago. Wolf is 31, now. He was just hitting his third decade when I met you, Krystal."

"Nicky is 23 now? She's eight years younger than Wolf?" Fara inquired, trying not to butt in, but it was difficult to avoid. "I mean, he's calling you a kid and you're 27 years old, Fox."

"I know, I know," McCloud said. "Wolf thinks that, because my father never took me out into the woods to learn how to hunt, or showed me how to open a beer bottle with my teeth, that I'm a pushover baby. He thinks that I just never grew up and the only reason I tore a hole through Lylat, on a path to Venom, 9 years ago, is because I was enraged to find out that the same man who killed my father, Andross Oikonni, ...was the same man who put a car bomb on dad's car, which mom borrowed, to take to the store."

"Well, a careful, calculated revenge can cause someone to accomplish impossible feats," Krystal said, getting a nod from Fara. "It's not safe or healthy but not impossible to be fueled to success by vengeance, so long as you don't let it consume you. Wolf has it in his mind that he thinks your last victory in combat against him was a fluke, I could sense that much."

"Like I said," Fox replied, "He thinks he's better, regardless of shooting his tail down. Now, let's not talk about Wolf. I wanna get down this slope, put the defroster on in the LandMaster and ride it straight down through the warmer parts of Fortuna. Let's go."

"What's your plan for getting down that incline?" Fara said, looking down the 70 degree slope with a frown.

"The Probe," Fox said, straddling the tube. Krystal sat down on it behind him, putting her arms around his waist, sensing his idea. Fara, on the other hand, first looked over them, to scout the slope again, before looking back to the makeshift toboggan sled and sighed. She placed her paws against the back of the cylinder and began to give it a hard push, taking a few steps down the slope before hoisting her body forward and wrapping her arms around Krystal, her paws gripping at Fox's shoulders, tucking her legs up a bit as she unceremoniously crashed down onto her tail, on the back of the tube.

Fox used his feet to gently ease and steer the tube so that it didn't roll to one side. The trio picked up speed, nearing forty miles an hour. Fara tucked her head against the back of Krystal's neck to reduce wind resistance, when something caught the corner of her eye, looking back over her own shoulder. Just the fear she didn't want to face... a sheet of ice and snow began to slide forward, rolling into a chaotic cloud that loomed above them, racing to meet them from behind.

They were about to be swept up by an avalanche. Krystal could sense Fara's panic and quickly glanced over her shoulder to see what was happening. She screamed in terror, even as Fara squished herself up against Krystal's back, instinctively, sandwiching Krystal between the fennec and Fox McCloud's backside.

"What is it?" Fox shouted over the wind and ambient noise, so she could hear him over her communicator.

"AVALANCHE!" It was Fara who answered for Krystal, who was simply shocked at seeing the twenty foot wall of snow reaching up at them like a giant paw coming to stomp them out of existence.

"We're all most there, we'll make it, hold on! I'm going to steer for safety!" Fox shouted.

"No time! Everyone brace yourselves!" Fara yelled at the top of her lungs. Krystal clung to Fox, Fara clung to Krystal and they all held tightly to the probe they used as a sled. The azure furred vixen stole one last glance at it, her fear turning to disappointment and utter dismay. This was going to be a horrible way to die and she didn't like feeling helpless again, like back on Sauria. She shut her eyes...

The wave of snow crashed over them, pushing their bodies apart from the probe. They could feel their bodies being tumbled around inside the weight of the snow, which could have easily grinded and crushed them to their deaths. Fox felt the wind knocked out of himself by some heavy, solid force. His eyes went wide and he saw that the snow was using the body of the probe to batter him without mercy. He tumbled end over end a few times, then, thrown about like a rag doll, he rolled by the force of the snow for another moment until coming to rest underneath a blanket of white.

In stark contrast, everything went dark for him.

-

-twenty minutes-

Fox groaned. He was buried so deep that he couldn't be sure which way was up and which was down. Everything around him was pitch black and he only had enough of an air pocket to move his hands and wrists, which were over his chest, in an eerily similar way one might have their hands folded when they're in a casket.

The numbing cold and the ache from being tossed around by several million tons of fresh snow had him completely disoriented. He couldn't tell if he was laying on his back, his belly or if his feet were sticking straight up. He lifted his paws trying to push some of the snow away from his muzzle and took a deep breath, but the air pocket wouldn't sustain him forever.

The thing was, being underneath the snow was far warmer than being up in the cold, windy air. Infact, it was nearly twenty-five degrees warmer under the snow. His cloudy mind was beginning to awaken and he had to fight not to panic. Both girls could be dead, but he didn't want to think about that right now, because it would allow for despair to creep into his heart.

Fox shut his eyes and puckered his lips. He then wadded up enough saliva in his mouth to spit and did so. The gooey spit ran up his nose, over the eyes of his mask, causing him to cough, to keep the saliva from going up his nostrils. That gave him a very good idea of the direction of gravity. For the spit to run back over his face like that, he must have been laying on his back, feet up, at a 30 degree angle.

He brought his paws up and began to claw furiously at the snow all around his body. Within minutes, he had dug out enough of a space to feel the ability to lift his head some. His fingers were already starting to burn from clawing into the frozen, compacted snow. That's when he heard something that caused his heart to stop. His ears perked and he listened for it. It happened again. Krystal! She was calling for him and her voice sounded full of concern.

He was afraid that she may have been trapped or injured and immediately doubled his furious digging effort. His fingertips were bleeding into his gloves now, from the harsh abuse they received. As he clawed, he used his upper body and legs to help him sit up, so that he could crouch down in his new, larger space, under the snow.

He tried the spitting thing again. Now it ran down his muzzle, over his jaw and down over his throat. Yuck, but at least now he was crouched straight up and down, facing the _right _direction. He heard Krystal call for him again, the urgency in her voice worrying him. He began to clamor upwards, using his legs to push him upwards. The snow began to grow white, here, letting him know that he wasn't far from the surface. He didn't have the breath to spare to shout back; he'd nearly used up all of his oxygen.

Once he broke the surface, he gasped for breath and used it to call back for Krystal. But to his absolute surprise, she raced over to him, kneeling down to meet him. She was safe. Infact, she was the only one who was tossed upwards by the snow, instead of getting buried. She reached for Fox's wrists, pulling him out of the 9 foot hole he'd tunneled up through.

Underneath of his gloves, his hands and fingers were bloody from abuse, his claws having torn through the gloved fingertips, in clawing through the icy tundra. Krystal drew his paws to her, worried by the sanguine blotches where his claws had pierced the fabric. She then kissed him softly, glad that he was safe.

"Where's Fara?" He asked, after a quiet moment of reunion together.

"I don't know. I sense her fear and panic, so I know she's here, but I couldn't sense her exact location, because it was difficult to pick apart the intense emotions I sensed from you, as well. Let me try and concentrate, clear your mind Fox. That way I can lock onto her mind," She explained.

Fox nodded and tried clearing his mind. He was elated, but he tried to just focus on something plain and simple. The numerical digit, 1. He tried to imagine the structure of the actual digit, the way it was drawn, just the way Peppy had showed him to do, when he was trying to learn how to meditate when he was riled up. When he was 15, it was Peppy who taught him that focusing on something like a simple number was the best way to put everything else out of his mind. He did this now.

Krystal closed her eyes and zeroed in on Fara's distressed mind, letting the panic lead her towards their buried teammate. Finally she announced, "I've found her, help me dig her out, Fox! She's growing very faint! I don't want to lose her!" McCloud's eyes snapped open and he turned to Krystal, then dashed over to where she now stood, helping his mate dig, regardless of his battered paws, into the snow.

They hit something solid. McCloud knew immediately that they'd found the probe first. The problem was, they had to dig the whole thing out, because it was laying ontop of Fara, who was quickly losing consciousness due to a lack of air, according to Krystal.

"Dig around it, let's get air to her, before we worry about getting this beast off of her," Fox ordered. He and Krystal quickly began working around the Probe, creating a small tunnel around the metallic beast, where Fara had been trapped. Fox uncovered her paw, giving it a squeeze, before continuing his digging to try and find her head.

"It's here, I've found it on the other side of the probe!" Krystal cried. Fara's lengthy fennec ear stuck up through the icy blanket. Fox then realized the probe was laying directly ontop of her body. If he could lift it, they would have complete access to her form. Krystal continued to dig around Fara's head, to get her face uncovered before she suffocated.

Meanwhile, Fox braced his legs using his paws and lower back to try and work the probe's weight, which was still half buried, from atop of her body. "We're losing her, Fox!" Krystal cried, working the snow from away from Fara's face, until she uncovered Fara's muzzle. The woman was still, she wasn't breathing. "Get this thing off of her, I'm going to try and give her CPR!"

Fox found his second wind, his body burning to try and carry out Krystal's plea of getting the heavy probe off of Fara's chest. It was keeping her from drawing breath just as badly as having her head burried underneath the snow. Krystal wasn't even sure how she could have survived this long, it had been about half an hour now, since they were caught in the wave of snow.

Fara had drawn her last breath only a moment ago, and Fox was growing worried that they may have been too late. "C'mon, Phoenix. Don't die on us yet, you still have to marry my other half, come ON!" he was growing frustrated trying to use his anger at the situation to give him the strength to lift the probe out of the snow.

It worked. He finally pulled the metallic beast from her belly, heaving it with Krystal's help, up onto the snowy surface, near by. Fox then pulled Fara out, laying her flat on the snow, where Krystal could better help her. The blue-furred vixen pulled Fara's snow mask up, uncovering her muzzle now, more than just her nose. She then pulled her own completely off.

Fox knelt down besides them, feeling helpless of the situation, growing fidgety and paranoid with worry. Krystal pushed her paws in on Fara's chest, then leaned down, placing her paw against Fara's jaw to keep her mouth shut, and covered the fennec's nose with her mouth, trying to force air into Fara's lungs.

In the animal kingdom, most of the time, CPR was given by blowing air in through the nose. But it wasn't yielding the results that Krystal wanted. She finally just reached for Fara's jaw, prying it open with her paws, then leaned down, placing her own maw, making sure to form an airtight seal with her lips, to keep air from escaping, and now used her paw to pinch Fara's nose shut. She then breathed another heavy breath into Fara's lungs, before taking her fist and nailing the Fennec in her chest.

Success. Fara gasped for breath, as if she'd been under water far too long and only just broke the surface. Fox leapt to his feet, relief taking over, which Krystal telepathically fed off of, sighing in contented relief that she was able to save Phoenix. Fara's eyes opened and she panted for breath for a few moments before her normal breathing returned.

"Thank... thank you both. I thought... well. It doesn't matter, I owe you both," She said, reaching to pull her mask back down over her face to keep the cold out. Krystal turned to Fox, looking rather pleased with herself and her abilities as a healer, from her world. Finally, Fox untangled the harness on the Probe and shouldered it, pulling it up onto his other shoulder, then turned to both women. Krystal helped Fara to her feet then pulled her own mask down.

Falco's holographic visual reappeared over Fox's wrist comm, his floating head displayed about a foot from Fox's body as they trekked the rest of the way to the foothills of the mountain, only a few hundred feet infront of them. "Good job you guys! I was worried there for a moment. Fara, your Falco says he's real glad to see you safe. Make sure you guys don't get into any more trouble, all right? Oh and Krystal, that was hot. I've always wanted to see two hot chicks ki--" His transmission was immediately cut by Fox, who had already anticipated such a remark, from the beginning.

"Arugh, he's so immature sometimes," Krystal groused, coming in step behind Fara to help dust the ice and snow off of her back and shoulders. She then came up to walk on Fox's right, while Fara came to walk on Fox's left side. Up ahead, the Land Master tank sat majestically. Snow wasn't even accumulating on it's hull, because it was running and the deicing equipment was running to keep the cold from clinging to it. Snow melted as soon as it touched the warm armor, dripping and forming icicles all around the side, giving the tank what Fara refered to, as a translucent skirt.

Finally. Now they only had to brave a relaxing drive through the intense weather in a slightly cramped tank, and that was the easy part. Fox sat in the driver's seat with the Probe case strapped to the outside of the tank. Fara and Krystal knelt, huddled in the space behind the seat, stretching their legs out on either side of Fox's chair. He glanced around the tank's cockpit, the controls at his fingertips with a rather lush pair of legs on either side of him. Lucky vulpine.

-

-15 hours later-

The Landmaster Assault tank jolted. It caused Fara to wake from her slumber, glancing at the view screens around Fox. He looked wide awake, and she realized he was listening to heavy rock music, through a headset, that she could hear if she strained her ears. In the rear monitor, she could see the tree trunk they just rolled over, which had caused the jolt. Krystal was still asleep, but because Fox was listening to music to keep himself awake, he didn't seem to notice that Krystal was talking in her sleep.

She seemed anxious. She muttered the words, "No, that can't be," quietly, causing Fara to grow currious at what she was dreaming. According to a map on the dashboard, they were still about two hours from the target location, which meant Fox was easily traveling well over 250 kilometers (about 100mph) per hour. Either the LandMaster was a fairly smooth ride in snow and dirt, or she just couldn't stay awake, sitting on the floor for 15 hours.

Krystal's eyes suddenly went wide and she awoke with a start, gasping in surprise. Fara leaned forward to speak to her in a soft tone, "You all right? You looked like you were having a rough dream. Was... was it about Andross or that Scales guy on that Dinosaur planet you mentioned earlier?"

"No," Krystal said back, in her own soft voice, "It wasn't about Sauria or either of those two. I... I dreamt about a life force I cannot understand. It's full of anger and hatred. I don't feel it now, but I've had this dream two nights in a row, and now during this nap." She then cleared her throat and called out to her boyfriend, "Fox?"

"No use, he's listening to music to keep himself awake. You'll have to shake him," Fara said with a somewhat sheepish grin. Krystal nodded and lifted her foot to give Fox a little nudge in his arm. He reached to pull the headphones from his ears.

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you two. You were sleeping awfully peaceful." Infact, he thought they both looked rather... astonishingly beautiful, asleep. Krystal was put at peace from her dream, after feeling the emotion in him that he found their slumbering forms to be extremely peaceful to behold. They both looked in bliss to have rest after such an ordeal. It'd been about 7 solid hours of sleep and both of them felt quite refreshed.

"It's all right, Fox. Let's pull over somewhere. It's been ...how long? ...More than half a day? I think we need to stretch our legs, freshen up a bit, all of that," Krystal said.

"Come to think of it, I've had to pee, also," Fox muttered, having really kinda had to go for about the last half an hour, now. He was afraid to wake them, but he figured they would wake up eventually. He pulled through a stream, stopping alongside the water, in a mossy area, just a few hundred miles from the target. It was a comfortable 81 degrees here, in comparison to the incredible cold, up north.

The LandMaster shuttered to a halt and the trio climbed out through the hatch, ladies first, Fox shutting the hatch before hopping to the ground. "I'm assuming Falco and his other half and Katt went back for a refuel at some point. They're probably doing shifts now that the air is clear up there. Wolf left, so he prolly took his cronies with him," McCloud said aloud, more to himself, than to Krystal and Fara.

The group split up. Fox went to go take a piss by a nearby tree, while Fara and Krystal found their own places in the brush, to 'freshen up' as Krystal put it. She was so ladylike at times and so much fun to hang out with at others. What other woman could go from being mannered, regal and pleasant one moment to a proud, competitive marksman and pilot, the next minute, to a passionate, sultry mate in private? She was everything Fox ever wanted. And all the girl was going to do was 'freshening up'. It was just the cute way she refered to something so normal and plain.

He just, he was so glad to have her in his life. That's all. He lost his parents, his sister walked out of his life, and at one point, even one of his best friends simply disappeared for a few years, leading up to the Dino-planet mission on Sauria. But the thing that had him feeling so emotional right now was ...Wolf.

He still thought of Wolf O'Donnell as his rival. That wouldn't change, but he no longer had a hidden, bottled hate for the man. Pigma and Andross, they were responsible for alot of things, and everyone could be darn well sure that Fox would have danced on their graves if given the chance, regardless of Pigma not being dead, yet. But Wolf, Fox could forgive him for everything but his attitude and the contraband he moved for cash.

Wolf was just low class, in McCloud's eyes. A common criminal with good piloting abilities. A rogue of rogues. A scoundrel with a ragtag pack with whom he prefers to run. He had to wonder who Wolf's new teammate was. Leon was still in the group and he was a confident pilot as well.

Another thing. Wolf despised of Pigma, Andrew and mentioned respect for James McCloud. Not the kind of respect that little Johnny has for his big brother, who beat up the class bully for him. No, the kind of respect Wolf had for James was the kind of respect that a true warrior has for his adversary of equal strength and ability.

Wolf took nothing personal. Except his relationship with Nichole, Wolf never let business mix with pleasure. If he had to shoot a one-time friend, if he had to take down a pilot he respected to earn a paycheck, business was business. But when it came to Nicky, Wolf guarded his vixen with a fierceness so powerful that not even Fox McCloud could take her away from him. And his adoration for his mate was something that earned Fox's respect, which he wouldn't dare mention to anyone.

Maybe he just accepted Wolf because, regardless of how many years since he'd last seen his sister and how far apart they've always been, he loved her as family. Enough, in fact, that he had to accept Wolf as her mate, but the thought, which made him shutter in the past, now didn't spark any emotion. Krystal approached Fox who stood off in the distance, facing away from the Landmaster, ribbing him.

"You ready? It's good that you're putting feuds to rest in your heart," She said quietly.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled a bit. "All... freshened up, Angel?" To his words, she nodded then leaned to kiss him softly, on his cheek. But it wasn't a chaste peck, she planted an "I love you," kiss on the side of his face, to remind him that he's here, now in the present. It caused him to smile. What else could he do, he was in love and she wasn't leaving him. He didn't have to be a telepathic being to trust her with his heart.

-

-

Several hours later, Fox, Krystal and Fara found themselves in the near-tropical regions of Fortuna, where trees were covered with moss and the river was as warm as bath water. They had left the LandMaster in a nearby stream, which was only ankle deep. The group followed the water in the direction the transponder location device had pointed them to go, now clad in weather-forgiving apparel.

Fox wore a pair of shorts, boots and a vest. Fara, on the other hand, wore a one piece bathing suit and a pair of shorts, for the sake of pockets for her gear. Krystal was dressed in a similar way to Fox, a pair of shorts, a black t-shirt and vest with netted pockets. She carried a blaster, where Fara's was holstered.

She could sense a presence, but the thoughts and emotions of that person were sheltered. Thus the reason for the blaster at the ready. Fox held the locator in his paws, following the signal upstream with both girls on either side of him. The group stopped as the area around them opened up into a clearing. Fox glanced up from his locator, his jaw falling wide open.

"What... the hell... is that?" He muttered.

"I don't know how it got here, but that," Fara said, swallowing the shallow lump in her throat. "Is a Monarch Dodora."

"I can only sense that it's confused and does not belong in this world," Krystal said softly, to the other two. "But it, nor I, have any clue how in the world it wound up on this Fortuna. That can only mean something far more sinister is at work here," She added.

"What's it doing?" Fara said, pulling out a small pair of high-definition goggles to zoom up on the beast.

"It's lonely. There are no others of it's type, on this Fortuna," Krystal whispered to her companions.

"No, it's doing something with it's talons, but I can't see from this angle," Fara said so that only Fox and Krystal could hear her.

"It's probably got the damn Data Box we need," Fox grumbled.

"How can you be so sure?" Krystal looked perplexed that he could make such an assumption without any evidence to prove his statement. Fox simply shrugged.

Suddenly the massive dragon turned about, facing the three of them, flaring fiery smoke from it's nostrils. Fara didn't even flinch. She zoomed in and groaned when she saw what was in the massive clawed hand of the beast. "Damn! Fox is right, it's got the data box, why would it have that? There's nothing that thing could possible want with a 35 pound 10 inch by 10 inch piece of metal," She grumbled.

"See?" Fox said, shaking his head. "I saw it coming, all the way from 5th Avenue," he added with a smirk. Just as he said that, the Dodora lifted the box to it's massive maw and swallowed it, then roared loudly, smelling the three of them down wind.

"How in the heck can it see us? We're not moving, it shouldn't know we're here," Fara said, putting the goggles into her shorts zipper-pocket.

Krystal shook her head with a sullen sigh, "We're downwind. He could smell us from... OH my Goddess! He ate the box!" She exclaimed in surprise.

"Okay," Fox groaned, "now _that_ I have to admit... I _didn't_ see _that_ coming. But it just figures. Crap." He smacked himself on the forehead with the locator, cursing his luck. After a moment, he put it into his vest, securing the device before folding his arms. "Now what?"

As if to answer Fox, The Monarch Dodora, a monster sized dragon being from the Fortuna in Fara's universe, let out a roar and gushed out a thick plume of fire, in anger. This confusing world and those three tiny beings have defied it's will to be left alone and now it was going to make them pay.

"We...uh," Fara licked her lips apprehensively before uttering one final word, "_Run_."

(next)

Chapter -6- Saving the Universe is a dirty job, but...this takes the cake.

...or

Chapter -6- Answers


	5. Chapter 6

Chapter -6- Dirty Job, but _someone_'s gotta do it.

The group ran. What else was there to do? When a 90 ton fire-breathing dragon was confused and angry and probably had an upset stomach ontop of everything else, you didn't stand around to make chitchat. The group dashed off, back the way they came. Their footfalls caused splashes and despite cliché movie problems, not a single one of them fell.

Fara Phoenix wasn't about to become the damsel in distress again, it was Krystal's turn to get trampled or something. Or even Fox, didn't that guy ever need rescuing? Falco would be the first to try and list off about 25 different times that Fox needed help but right now, the point of their situation was clear. They _all _needed help.

As they ran, Fox lifted his left wrist, speaking into the gauntlet. "To ..anybody! We've got a major problem on Fortuna. Whoever can get here and save our sorry tails first gets a cookie!" his words were labored, panting into the communicator. But his calls went without an answer.

The group made it to the tank, quickly running behind it, then climbing underneath of it. This was Fara's suggestion, having a feeling the thing would snap down and crush the tank before it went after them. At least if they were underneath it and it picked up the tank to try and eat it, they'd be able to run again.

The panting trio gave pause, watching through the tank treads as the confused, angry Dodora hunted around for them. It could smell them, as they were still downwind, but it didn't see them or hear them. It stopped infront of the tank, leaning down to nudge the metallic beast with it's nose.

"If that thing doesn't get away from my tank, I'm going to fire a bolt right up it's shnoz," Fox muttered. Fara placed a paw over his mouth, beating Krystal to the exact same thing, her paw covering Fara's paw, both of them keeping Fox completely silent.

Suddenly the Dodora inhaled. Fara gasped and whispered, "Oh... hell no... hold your breath!" And no sooner did Fox and Krystal take a breath of air, the Monarch Dodora gushed a massive ball of fire out over the tank, which shielded the trio underneath, although they didn't escape getting partially singed. Everyone kept their head down, but the Dragon was already winded from chasing them upstream, so the fiery breath was short lived.

"Now what, since you're the expert on this thing? In the tank or run again?" Fox grumbled.

Fara shook her head, adding, "Wait. I'm no expert but it can smell us and we're not dead yet, so it's gonna probably pick the tank up with it's mouth. If it does, we run. If it doesn't, it'll get bored and walk away, we'll get in the tank, you can figure it out from there," she continued, crossing her furry digits, hoping for the latter.

But perhaps her words cursed the group. The Dodora leaned down, scooping up the tank. But with it's mouth full, it wasn't able to see them, let alone breathe fire and that was Fara's cue to shout. "GO!"

The team dashed across the nearest field and into a patch of trees, hurrying through the wooded area and into the thick brush. Hopefully the berries and flowers on several of the bushes would be enough to mask their scent. It worked. The Dodora spit out the tank, which landed unceremoniously upon it's side and followed suit, but stopped short of the woods, sniffing the air and stomping it's massive feet in frustration. The tank had been cast aside 200 yards behind the beast, causing Fox to curse again, under his breath.

Krystal slugged him in the shoulder, saying, "Behave, we're not dead yet. Look, it can't find us." Her reminder of that fact was accented by her pointing at the confused, bewildered dragon, who's body slumped to the ground, after spinning two or three times, the way a dog might circle their spot before laying down in the middle of a floor.

"Jeeze, is it going to just wait for us?" Fox said, peering out through the foliage with a dispassioned frown. He really hated the fact that his tank was dropped two stories onto it's side. Damn Dragon, how did it even get from Fara's Fortuna to _this_ Fortuna? "It has no right to be here," Fox said, his eyes panning over the massive beast.

"I don't think it wants to be here," Fara said with a soft frown. "It's mating season, if I'm not mistaken. It's not going to find any mates here, so from what I understand, they get really violent when there's no females with whom to copulate," She explained.

"You sound like an expert on them to me," Krystal said with a slight grin.

"Yeah, well. It's pretty common knowledge. They're the second largest animal in Lylat. And by far, the most aggressive," She added. "I know StarFox fought one once, and shoved a ton of firepower down it's throat and up it's tail. I'm just not sure how this one got here," Fara said, looking down at her blaster. It wouldn't put a scratch on this thing.

"What's the largest?" Krystal asked.

"Warp Whale," Fara replied. This got an expression of confusion from both Fox and Krystal so Fara just shrugged, taking the time they were stuck in the woods, by explaining. "It's a whale that scientists are trying to learn more about. It lives in Sector Y, in our universe. Lot of sea-creatures that evolved to live in space in sector Y, but this thing can go in and out of Linear space, so we call it the Warp Whale. Very nonaggressive," She told them.

"Sector Y sounds fascinating, Fara!" Krystal peeked back out at the Dodora who was on it's haunches, stairing at the forest. It wasn't going _any_where. "What else does Sector Y have?"

"Space fairing birds, jellyfish, mantas, schools of lesser fish-like creatures, it's very beautiful. They usually don't leave the nebula, but the nebula... is big. You could fit hundreds of Venoms and Cornerias inside," Fara said, glancing back at the Monarch Dodoria, shaking her head.

"We need the tank," Fox finally said. "We've gotta kill that thing and get that black box out of it. So ... you two stay here, I'll make a run for it, cool?" As much as they wanted to argue about how splitting up to confuse the thing would be a great idea, no one argued with the team leader. Fox crept out of the brush, turning back to Fara and asking, "What's it's weakness?"

"It can't see you if you hold still," She said, pausing to think of what else. "Fire into it's mouth, it'll go right down it's throat. It's freakishly weird, but the more you shoot it's tail and mouth, the shorter the throat and tail get. If you can get the head back down to nearly touch the body, it becomes immensely vulnerable to attack. But with a tank, it'll be difficult. I suggest we leave it alone," She said.

"Black Box Data Recorder? Information that might get you home to save your system from a very pissed off, revenge lusting, hell-bent Andross?" Fox reminded her, causing her to close her eyes and sigh. Krystal patted the girl's shoulder, saying something Fox couldn't hear to better comfort her about the situation. Fox then turned back to the massive dragon... and the tank far beyond.

Fox tried going around the backside of the dragon, to stay away from it's massive head. He couldn't have done something dumber. The beast immediately shifted it's weight, re-wrapping it's tail around itself, which swatted the tiny vulpine halfway across the field. He rolled several times, laying in the middle of the grass, motionlessly. It caused Krystal's heart to leap into her throat and Fara to gasp, but due to her telepathic abilities, Krystal knew he wasn't dead.

Fox rolled over onto his stomach, groaning and sitting up on his knees. He glanced over his shoulder, but the dragon wasn't paying any mind at the moment. For the first time, he noticed pint-sized white wings on it's back. They weren't very large and it made him wonder if they got bigger with age or something. They didn't look big enough to fly with... but it might have been possible... Or if they weren't evolved yet or... Goddess only knew. He began creeping again, heading for the tank, but it was still a full two hundred yards beyond the Dragon's massive slumbering form. It was almost as large as GreatFox, if the booster and bridge was removed.

Several buildings chasing him and blowing fire at him wasn't a pretty thought, and yet the thing was right there, just twenty meters away. McCloud still wasn't spotted and so he decided to sprint the rest of the way. No sooner did he bolt off, the Dodora lifted it's head, it's towering body and massively craning neck causing the head to give chase before the body got to it's feet.

In the background he could hear the girls screaming for him to run. But he already _was _running. Thing is, he knew what had to be happening for them to be screaming like that. He didn't even have to look. The towering shadow that engulfed him, stretching all the way up passed the Land Master was enough of a hint. He heard the massive beast take another large breath, and it's next breath would be too hot to handle.

That's when he heard blaster cannons. Hot, blue plasmatic pulses of energy rushed passed him, slamming into the Dodora, causing the dragon's fiery expulsion to be rescinded. He was just a few hundred feet now, when a massive explosion from behind threw his body forward. He felt himself rise up, lifted on the hot air from behind. He glanced down, feeling his feet separate from the planet's surface.

The explosion was so powerful, Fox felt himself being tossed, end over end. His feet lifted up into the air and he could see the ground beneath him. The Tank was only another two hundred feet now, and he hurtled through the air towards it. A small part in the back of his mind wondered how fast he was being thrown through the air. Would this get him to the Land Master more quickly? Fortuna rose up to meet the vulpine, or at least that's what it seemed like.

He slammed into the ground, throwing his body into a roll to ease the impact. When he came to a stop, his body was numb and he was afraid to lift his head and look at all the bones that were probably sticking out of his arms and legs. He lay motionless on his back for a moment, now stairing up at the treads of his tank, several feet above his head, the tank still on its side.

His wrist communicator crackled to life and a familiar male voice was heard. _Not again_..."Get up, pup. You're not allowed to die, unless it's by me, now get up." Wolf O'Donnell. Why'd this guy come back? What did Fox do to deserve Wolf's return. No cronies this time? Fox had to wonder on that question for a moment, still half dazed. Did _Wolf_ recieve his distress communication?

Fox groaned again, sitting up and glancing at the wrist communicator. Wolf either didn't have a holo-projector or didn't have his activated, because the communication was audio only. Wolf's fighter swopped by, once more, adding another volley of blaster fire to the Dodora's head without hurting it. Now how was McCloud going to get his tank back on the treads? He scampered about it, climbing in through the hatch.

"How do you kill this freak? This scumbag really needs to die," Wolf groused to himself, regardless of the channel being open. "All right, new plan. I'll keep you alive, you kill this thing. Now, if you wanna set up some sort of payment, I'll send a missle down it's throat and blow it up from the inside out, how much money you got, McCloud?"

"Plenty, but you're not going to see a dime," Fox growled. He booted the computer systems inside of the tank, chiding it to hurry. After the green light, he punched the boosters on the bottom, forcing it to roll over, back onto it's treads. "So you should probably leave and I'll handle this," Fox added, patching the communication through to his Tank's comm system.

"Shit, McCloud. I know what bank you put it in, I've always just taken what I want when I want it. Yeah I know, you got insurance on your money, so do I. Stupid. Hm, I haven't done that in years," Wolf said with a hint of foreshadowing, just to tease the vulpine.

"How old are you again, Wolf?"

Wolf's singular gaze rolled. "My early 30's, Fox. I heard that Krystal isn't even considered an adult by Cornerian standards," Wolf said with a chuckle. "Rockin' the cradle, there foxy? Cradle robbing doesn't net as much of a return as what I do for a living. Then again, you are just a pup, really. So I guess she's about your age, in a... metaphorical way."

"Will you just LEAVE?" Fox snapped.

"Watch your tone with me, kid. I wouldn't wanna have to take ya over my knee and tan your hide," Wolf snapped back.

"Look, if you want to help, aim your blaster fire for the mouth and the tail," Fox explained, adding, "The more firepower you give it, the shorter the neck and tail get, then you can hurt it. It ate the probe, we need to rip it open and get to it's stomach."

"You talk to much, shoot the tail and mouth, got it." Wolf pulled into a loop, planting a missile directly into the dragon's maw. The neck expanded for a moment before shrinking. Obviously it took the missile's explosion without blowing it's throat apart. Wolf then pulled about, working on it's head again.

"Be careful, O'Donnell! We need that damn blackbox," Fox shouted.

"Bah, what's so important about it?" Wolf said, concentrating another set of blaster shots on the Dodora's weak spot. "Does it have incriminating evidence of you porkin' a minor? Maybe you should have waited until next year when she's legal, Foxy."

"Will you just grow up?" Fox was exasperated, now. He was tired of Wolf's bull and the fact that the jerk was hanging around all of a sudden really bothered him. "If you must know, it has information that will stop all of this craziness going on, so either help us or get out of here," He sneered at the lupine.

"Gee, Fox. I'd love to help you out and give a damn about everyone getting their asses handed to them by the powers that be, but I just don't seem to _give _a damn about _everyone else_," Wolf replied. "So what's in it for me?"

This time it was Krystal on the comm to step into the conversation, "All right, boys. That's enough. Wolf, there are two Fox McClouds in this dimension now, that's where this Dragon came from, the other side. So you get to have less Fox McClouds in your world. Fox, you need to work together with Wolf if you're going to get that black box back, he's not here for his health, he's here to show you up and make sure he keeps you alive so that you have no choice but to apologize to your sister. You impressed him once, years ago, but now you have to reprove yourself. Wolf feels you're underneath of his skill," She explained over the communication patch.

"Wow, she's smart, McCloud. Found yourself a woman with a perceptive brain, eh? Damn right, I feel you're underneath my skill," He said with a snicker.

"All right," Fox said, interrupting Wolf's ego. "There' two of us and one of him, we should be able to beat him, we've got him outnumbered."

"Wow, you did that hard math _all by yourself_, hero?" Wolf replied. "I've got this thing under control, Fox. Get your rubber gloves and X-ray, so we can hunt this thing's carcass for your precious box, when I'm done."

"Shut up, dammit. For once, just... give it a rest," Fox said, narrowing his eyes, gazing into the view screen, dodging another breath of fire that scorched the ground all around him. Fox charged his blaster, joining in on pounding firepower into the Monarch Dodora's face.

Suddenly the injured Dragon turned and began to run the other way. It took 500 yards in a single step, easily out running the Land Master. It's massive body disappearing into the distance. "GET IT," Fox shouted. "It's getting away with the black box, we've got to find it!"

"Fox, let's just take a break," Fara said, stepping into the communications. "Relax, we can track the black box by it's transponder... and GreatFox Satellite photos will be able to find this thing no matter where it goes," She continued.

Fox's head slammed back against the headrest with a sigh. It was getting away and Wolf was still hanging around. The worst of every situation that he could think of was happening today. He was just glad that Fara didn't die earlier that morning, in the snow.

Wolf's fighter eased to the ground, venting hot steam from the engine and landing gear hydraulics. His canopy lifted and the narrow gaze of his singular eye squinted down at Fox's LandMaster. A smirk touched his muzzle, no words spoken.

"Hey Cyclops," Fox said without so much as thinking about it.

"Hey there, small fry. What the hell was that thing and where did it come from? Andross is dead, so we know it wasn't some BioWeapon from his old ass," Wolf replied with a confident and almost friendly tone. He was only too happy to get into a battle of wits with McCloud, either way.

Fox eased up from the Tank's hatch, to return Wolf's glare. "Like I said, it's not from this world. It's got our damn blackbox and if all this bullshit keeps happening and the world gets torn apart, you're not going to have any business left," McCloud reminded him.

"Shut it," Wolf snapped. He paused then added, "if I thought this bullshit you're doing bares no importance on me and business, I wouldn't have given enough of a rat's ass to come and see what's going on."

"Rat's ass? Why Wolf, what's with the racial slurs towards rats? I knew a good Rat fighter pilot once who could probably backslap you without giving it a second thought," Fox said, grinning to his rival. Wolf shook his head, leaning back in his fighter seat, putting his legs up over the dashboard, crossed at the ankle.

"What now, hero?"

"Stop calling me that," Fox said with a sigh. "I'm doing a job, same as you. I don't got no medals like the other Fox," McCloud said, flipping the lupine off then sitting back on the hull of his Tank, waving for the girls to come out of hiding.

Fara and Krystal sauntered out of the bushes like a couple of Amazon beauties, causing Wolf to turn for a second look. He'd seen them on the mountain in winter weather gear and such, but now that they were wearing shorts and a leotard with vests that accentuated their curves, he had to at least take a look.

"Nicky McCloud?" Fox said, noticing that the lupine was still looking over his shoulder, down the side of his hull, at the approaching females.

"That's Nicky O'Donnell as far as you're concerned," Wolf replied. "Besides, I'm sure she'd give Krystal a spank-test, with you locked in a closet, forced to watch through a window, just to make you feel inadequate." Wolf then smiled, seeing Fox's reaction... A mister 'wannabe toughguy' smirk. It couldn't have made Wolf happier. Infact, it was a look so classic, he thought about taking a picture just for his Fiancé.

"Whatever, you're not wearing a band on your left hand, maybe you didn't notice, because you're left eye is out, Wolf." Fox grinned, adding his own little spark into the rebuttal.

"Ooo, look at me," Wolf said with a chuckle. "I'm bowled over by your wit, McCloud. I've totally been owned, now let's get this damn box and get out of here. Before your women fall in love with me. And I don't care if they _are_ women, I'll beat'em off me with a bat, so Nicky doesn't kill'em."

"Boys!" Krystal shouted, her stony scowl melting into a grin of amusement. "Shall we get started? We need to split up into groups to search faster. Can we pull this off, Wolf?"

"I don't have a back seat. Your fennec can ride on my wing, I won't drop her if she has good balance," O'Donnell replied nonchalantly. The air of confidence exuberated by O'Donnell was enough to turn off both women, but they would rather he had confidence in his flying than to be unsure and inadequate.

Fara approached the Wolven, without so much as thinking about it, climbing up onto the wing and reaching down to her boots, turning on the magnetic gravity setting. Her boots clung to the wing with a thunk, the fennec pulling out her high-definition binoculars. "Ready, let's get this show on the road," She said.

"She's spirited. Why can't you be as cool as her, McCloud?" Wolf said with a smirk.

"Without boobs, you won't think I'm as cool as her, no matter what I do," Fox said, turning to Krystal. "Well, let's get this show on the road. In the tank, they'll be our eyes in the sky." He then turned back to Wolf's ship. "Fara, you better get a parachute. Let me get one out of the tank, I don't trust him not to drop you," he added, reaching into the LandMaster's supply cargo for the chute they used on the probe's main body, out in the snow. He packed it into the backpack and tossed it to her.

"I hope it's not torn after using it to drag a piece of machinery for several miles," She said with a grin. It probably was, but it was better than nothing. Krystal climbed into the Tank, followed by Fox and they turned the vehicle about, heading for the blip that seemed to be moving across the Planet's surface, far up ahead. Wolf also lifted off and the race began.

Fara knelt down on the wing to reduce drag resistance, the breeze blowing through her fur, causing her tail to whip about in the wind, behind her. She looked into the binoculars, watching Fox far below, then glanced back at the Canopy, Wolf O'Donnell keeping his airspeed low, to match the Tank's high-rolling speed.

The Dodora was running for the hills, so to speak. It had already crossed several rivers and a plethora of hills. While any fighter could outrun it, the Tank was what caused Wolf to have to stay at a slow chase speed. The Dragon couldn't run forever and that's what they were counting on.

Within an hour of solid chase, the blip on the tracking module suddenly came to a stop and they closed in on it rapidly. Had the dragon suddenly decided to just come to a stop? Fara lifted her High-Definition goggles back to her eyes, but couldn't see the Dragon in view. They were almost on top of the signal but still no sign of the Monarch Dodora.

Once they passed over the signal, Wolf looped back around, hovering the area like a vulture. Fox pulled to a stop in the tank and his next statement caused Fara and Wolf to exchange confused glances.

"Oh...shit."

"What's wrong, Fox?" Fara asked, trying to look through her binoculars to see what Fox was concerned about. She couldn't really locate anything out of the ordinary. It looked like he was stopped infront of what appeared to be a crater in the ground, the dark blotch of ground difficult to discern. She couldn't make out what it was, replying into her wrist communicator, "What is it, something happen?"

"It's...," Fox sighed, "..Shit."

"What is it? What's with the cursing, Mac? Just tell me what it is."

"I just told you what it is!" Fox exclaimed. He gave Fara a moment to think about it but Wolf was far ahead of her. Was it because all men think alike? Is it because women are too dainty to think about something as obvious as the fact that the Dragon crapped out the blackbox and they were going to have to dig through it to find the thing? Fara didn't even realize what McCloud was none-to-subtly hinting at.

Wolf groaned. "The friggin' beast crapped out the black box? I don't get my paws dirty unless it's in blood or for money. So this one is for you guys." He brought the Wolven back around for one more loop before lowering his landing gear and settling a few yards from the Tank. Fara deactivated her boots and approached the tank, quickly realizing the seriousness of the situation. Wolf wasn't cracking a joke, the Dragon really did digest the black box and the box was burried in a pile of excrement, causing her to sigh.

This was going to be the butt of everyone's jokes for the next five years or more. She finally lifted her wrist comm back to her lips and said, "That black box is nearly indestructible, right? Just blast it out of there," She said, shaking her head.

Fox, however, was against the idea. "I don't wanna take the chance of damaging the digital data recorded on there. A blaster shot's electromagnetic yadda yadda might hurt the information recorded on there. Slippy taught me that a blaster on a computer might fry the hard drive, even if you don't hit it directly. It's gonna have to be done the old fashion way."

"I could have saw this coming on Sauria, with all the dinosaurs. Lord knows," Wolf said, shaking his head, "It's been on those dinosaur movies in two situations, but this... I didn't see this coming."

"All right. Paper, Rock, Scissors?" Fox asked.

"All present, let's vote," Wolf quickly said. "If you want the Hero to do it himself, say AYE." He raised his paw, his fingertips brushing the top of the canopy and his cry of the word "AYE!" was mirrored by both Fara and Krystal. Fox balled his fists up at the mutiny and climbed from the Tank, stomping across the field to the towering pile of waste.

"I'm going to need a shovel and gloves. I don't know what sort of bacteria I'm confronted with and I don't need to get sick with something my body can't handle," McCloud said, trying to maintain his serious tone. Really, he was pissed. He didn't want to do this and he didn't want everyone to laugh at him over this. But this blackbox was crucial. This was the lowest of the low and his stomach and will? Well, they remained unshaken, but this was a blow to his pride.

"That's it, Fox," Wolf cackled. "Humbling mission huh? King turd of dung mountain? You're sister is going to absolutely _love_ this."

"Shut..._up_. Take your top lip, to your bottom, and _shut it_," Fox growled. His eyes returned to the Dodora's waste, clinching his paws into fists again. The pile was taller than he stood, and because it was so recently ingested, he could only hope the box was near the surface of all of this. "This is so _stupid_. I can't believe... of all the things," McCloud said, his ears laid flat, his temper flaring.

He could have just flattened the stuff like a steamroller, using the LandMaster, but washing every little nook and cranny of the treads and frame would take forever and until they got every iota, it would cause the flight deck to reek horribly. No, he had to actually hunt through this stuff. But Goddess-knows, he did _not_ want to do so.

"We don't have all day, dammit!" Wolf snapped, really just egging him on, so he could see the poor bastard wading through an 11 foot, towering pile of ... Wolf's thought was sidetracked suddenly, when the sky opened up. Another bolt of plasmatic energy lanced out from the heavens, striking in the center of the field, only a few hundred meters from where they all stood.

The force of the energy discharge knocked Fara and Fox to the ground. Krystal nearly fell over, herself, but instinctively crouched low, her footing not lost. Wolf gripped his flight stick with one paw and a brace bar in his cockpit, using his other paw. A statistical readout of numbers and letters was displayed to his brain, inside of his bionic optic implant.

"The energy that thing displays is outrageous," Wolf shouted. "It makes a Cornerian City power plant look smalltime. If that thing hits one of us, no one's going to survive it," he continued. The systems of his ship were fluttering, but due to the EMP shielding, they didn't fry.

"Slippy needs to analyze one at close range, if you ask me," Fara cried, sitting up and brushing grass from her fur. "I'll go out there and dig up a soil sample," She then turned to grin at Fox, "No pun intended, Mac," then continued with, "And we can bring it back to GreatFox for the Toad's to checkout."

Fox groaned at the slyly worded phrase, walking back to his Tank to retrieve two shovels. There were a total of three in the hold, used for digging the tank out of any unforeseeable jam, and there were also a set of dynamite sticks. But he wasn't going to use those, because the mess would be _everywhere_. He tossed one shovel to Fara, as well as a bucket with a lockable lid, then grabbed a shovel for himself.

He waited until Fara was working on digging into the charred ground, before he turned back to the pile, half wishing the damn energy bolt hit the crap. He shoved the spade into the disgusting stuff with a squish, then pulled out a heap of it and threw it on the ground. This was going to be a very long afternoon. "I -_so_- hate you guys, right now," McCloud muttered in a half-angry, half-helpless voice. It was a dirty job, but... this takes the cake.

* * *

Fox Junior's Arwing shuttered. The energy bolt that lanced across the inky void, struck Venom, this time. It was his job to monitor them, and so far, there had been several on every planet in the system... except for one. Sauria was the only planet to actually repel the plasmatic blasts, which struck the Force Point energy shield and caused the bolt to angle off, into space, dissipating several hundred miles out, fizzling into nothingness.

His system didn't have a planet Sauria, and not knowing anything about it's magical properties really made him currious. Actually, the Krazooa were _very_ technologically advanced and because the energy patterns emanating from two ForcePoints on the planet's surface matched the energy from the bolts, it caused the planet to be protected from the celestial strikes. Somehow, he wondered if that was the key.

Pulling up the Slippy indigenous to this Lylat, on his communicator, he decided to pose the question. "I've noticed everything is completely susceptible to these energy strikes... except for Sauria. There are two points on that planet, one in a volcano, one in the tropical area, that emanate a duplicate power level of the same ... whatever it is we're facing out here," He said. "What I mean is, it's the same energy, just dispersed over the planet. Can we harness it or dig up whatever's on that planet to use?"

"I'm afraid not, Fox Junior," Came the screechy voiced reply. "Last time that happened, the planet tore itself apart. We can study it, since it's in a controlled environment, but we can't steal the spell-stones, as they're called." Slippy was glad to see there was something good coming out of everything, but taking the spell stones wasn't going to happen.

Fox then opened a patch to his doppelganger's nephew and his mate. "Are you guys checking out the readings the Arwing's sensors are getting? It looks like that planet, Sauria, has some sort of protective barrier around it, that's made of the same form of energy as these bolts that keep plaguing everything," He said.

"I've not been paying attention, Fox. What's the lowdown on it?" Kit asked. He pulled into a tighter formation, Snowy taking the other side, so that it was a triangle. The formation, known as delta, was one that Kit and Snowy naturally assumed, being military, as well as Fox Junior, who used the formation often, himself.

"It's the same energy in the same form, just controlled to a sort of bubble, acting as the atmosphere," Junior explained, hoping the planet held some answers. It was one of the furthest planets from Corneria and Fortuna, putting the trio on the opposite end of Lylat from where Fox, Fara and Krystal were working with Wolf O'Donnell.

"Let's go there," Snowy chimed in, shifting her weight in her fighter seat. She was excited to finally get to see Sauria, having never visited the planet, before. She'd been told it was beautiful and with all the brochures popping up in the Cornerian and Katia Captiol Cities, about developments under construction, she had seen little tidbits that made her eyes 'bigger than her stomach', so to speak.

"Agreed. What's the next move, Cap'?" Kit said, refering to Junior by his rank. Snowy punched in the coordinates to Sauria, anticipating the order. Fox did indeed give the order and they changed course, rapidly heading for the Dinosaur Planet. It's mystical powers were the answer to all of this, he just knew it.

* * *

(next)

Chapter -7- Parables, Riddles, _Answers_.


	6. Chapter 7

Author's note:

You mean that little Dog Girl, Dorethy and her little simian, Toto? The Wizard Of Zoo! ...That's one of the jokes I didn't use in conversation, this chapter. It amused me but just didn't find a place into the wording. By the way, I couldn't seem to find Simbiant. The spell check couldn't pull up the correct spelling so I left it spelled wrong. Sorry! I'm too lazy to hunt up a dictionary cause I'm poor and I'm too busy at work.

Most of you wonder how I balence two stories at once. I work at Budget CarTruck Rental 6:30am to 6:30pm every day. It's a quiet office, but the phone rings every few minutes and someone comes in to return or pick up every 10 minutes or so. So if you ever catch a disjointed thought in the middle of a paragraph. I prolly had to jump up and help a customer, but yeah, with nothing _else_ to do all day, I just write. But with 11kb/s cellphone data card speed, trust me when I say that the punctuation is EATEN by quick editor and i'm unable to resave it properly because my bandwidth is so slow, it won't save. Yes, it sucks my pa-tootie.

So I try to write by day, proof in the evening, when i'm not doing music or roleplay (or video game) endevors, or on the days when I'm seeing my two kids (yes, i have two kids at 24. So sue me, i never got laid in highschool so i went a little crazy with it after highschool lol), so after this chapter, I'll be doing another _two_ chapters for THE CURSE. I've been trying to do 1 of this, 2 of that, but lately it's been 1 of this, 1 of that, 2 of this, 2 of that, and back to 1, i've just been getting in different moods.

After these two stories are finished, which should hopefully be soon, I'll be re-releasing (a rewritten version) of my old StarFox Stories. They're good, they just need a desperate re-write. But they're good stuff. Just need a few changes here and there, but i wrote'em in 2002/2003. Old School whut! lol

All Right, finally, i wanna just say the latest chapter was very rushed. the last two days of work have been busy and i've been at the counter more than at my keyboard, which is usually the other way around. So my bad! I got everything i wanted to say into it, minus the joke i opened with in this note, but it just feels... loose, disjointed. So for that, I say... my bad! But it does answer alot of questions. Did my use of forshadowing work? Do you feel you can trust the Krazooa guy? Hmmm, I'll let you decide if ya do, but whether he's the bad guy, good guy, reprogrammed by the bad guy, or reprogrammed by the good guy to manipulate the team for the greater good for reasons they can't understand, like the Patriots from Metal Gear Solid2 or some crap... that's entirely up to... :shot:

Nah, I've got the basic idea for it, so we'll see where it leads -D Buwhahahahahahaha. On to Chapter 7, ANSWERS!  
Thanks for reading and THANK you for the new reviews! They're cool as can be! I wrote this story for my home-slice in Cali, cause he felt they were really different Fox McClouds. Just like there are different fans, and he's a huge Fara/Fox Fan. So, yeah! Only a child of the 80's who grew up on startrek and comic books would come up with wacky storyline like this!11111!1!11!ONE1!11!111!ELEVEN. - with 50 !'s, I wonder how many of them refuse to show up thanks to QuickEditor, lol.

-ken

* * *

Chapter -7- Answers.

**F**ox McCloud's soft emerald irises fluttered shut. It had been quite the day. But this wasn't just any Fox McCloud. This was the Son of James and in just a few hours, he would propose to Krystal for her 18th birthday. It was tomorrow. His mind was on that, on himself, on his team, on the other StarFox team - he was thinking about anything but Planet Fortuna and the Monarch Dodora, right now.

Fara Phoenix, Krystal of Cerinia and Fox McCloud sat quietly on the bench seats that lined the back wall of the transport ship. Katt Monroe was piloting, with two Arwings on either side, both of which were Falco Lombardi. Fox would let himself get weirded out by this at a later time, right now, he tried not to think about it because it made his head hurt.

Katt leaned back over the shoulder rest and said, "Hey guys. I've got an incoming transmission from the other Fox McCloud. I'm gonna patch it through to the holographic display back there."

Fox Junior's upper body was displayed, free floating, in the middle of the shuttle. The holographic image faded just beyond where his comm-unit started, clipping him at the ears. "Hey, Mac. How's it going Krystal? How are you, love?"

Fara smiled, being the first to answer. "I'm good. I think Krystal and I worked a few things out. Have you found out anything?" Behind Phoenix, Krystal and Mac offered a wave to Junior.

"Yeah, I may have found the first real clue to solving this," Said Junior, his gaze averting for a moment before glancing back to the holo-camera, stairing right at Fara with a soft smile. "This planet, Sauria, it shows the same energy pattern in those bolts we keep seeing, in a bubble around the planet. I was thinking, maybe two teams of two could head down to the surface, see what we can't dig up and bring back to Slippy and ... Slippy." He paused, half grinning at how awkward it was to consider both Slippy Toads.

Mac glanced down for a moment, then stole a glance at Krystal. "I was thinking," he said. Junior tilted his head, interested in what his other half had to say. "Well, Junior, I was thinking ... I have a little experience with that Planet from last year. You and I should be team one, Kit and Snowy can be team two, I want Krystal and Peppy from the other universe to work together on trying to figure out what is going on here, and see if there's something larger behind all this, which ... I'll explain later, and Fara can help _our_ Peppy, from this side, with the maps and keeping us from getting lost on Sauria. It's a big place."

Fox Junior's tinny voice came over the speaker built into the wall of the shuttle, adding, "Sounds good. I'm going to set down in a clearing here and wait for you guys. Any trouble finding the data boxes on Fortuna?"

Mac suddenly frowned. "We got them, but I don't want to talk about it." On the other side of Lylat, Junior sat in his cockpit, looking confused. Mac said he didn't want to talk about it, but behind the vulpine, Junior heard both girls burst into a fit of giggles. He wondered what that was about but decided to ask Mac in person.

"Fair enough. I'll see you when you get here. Talk to you soon, take care Krystal... I love you, Fara." He then cut transmission and glanced out his canopy to Kit and Snowy, motioning with his paw for them to follow him down to Sauria. Junior eased into the atmosphere, heading for a place the Arwing's computer called Thorntail Hollow.

Fox McCloud Junior reached for the red bandana about his neck, tugging it free and rubbing the cloth between his paws. He missed his home world. Right now, he should have just finished defeating Andross and began a vacation with Fara, planning out their marriage. The autopilot helped to lower the three Arwings gracefully to the grassy clearing.

"So what now?" Snowy asked over the communicator. The pretty, young snow leopard lifted a paw to adjust the violet colored contacts she wore, which matched perfectly with her spots, which she'd bleached and dyed to a matching shade of purple. Her eyes shifted over to the two men in their fighters, each large metallic bird sitting majestically in the sunlight, one next to the other.

"Well," Junior said, reattaching the pilot scarf, "You two go on and begin scouting. That way we're the most productive. Make sure you take some gear with you, because I have a feeling we're gonna be doing a little camping. I don't think we can search an entire planet for answers in just a few hours. Stay in communicator contact with Fara and the Peppy from your world. They'll be coordinating the mission from GreatFox."

"Copy that," She replied, climbing from her canopy. Kit did the same, sliding down the side of his hull and walking to the cargo hold under the fighter's belly. Snowy did the same, getting some emergency supplies and other gear that was often kept inside the Arwings. The two packed up and got their gear in order, making a check list of what they had, then hiked out of the area on foot.

Before leaving, the trio agreed that it would be up to them to search out old ruins and grounds like the Walled City and other areas that might hold a few answers, but it would be up to Fox and his other half to re-explore the Krazooa Palace ruins and the Force Point Temples. That would offer the most answers, but those places would be the most dangerous and require the most caution. Fox had nominated himself and Mac to take on that operation, letting the team survey the rest of the land.

-

* * *

Junior glanced up at the canopy release handle, stealing one last look at his exterior temperature reading. Humidity was at 99 and the temperature was a sweltering 101.5 degrees here. Lush jungle foliage could be found around the outside of the clearing, with an assortment of exotic plant life all along the stream that ran through the center of the Hollow.

Junior unbuttoned James' uniform shirt that he'd gotten from Fox and Peppy from this dimension, folding it neatly and placing it behind his seat. He then glanced down at the finely ironed military pants and frowned. They would get destroyed in a place like this. He reopened a communication to the other Fox and said, "Hey. I got one more request on your way here."

"What is it, M.J.?"

"Those... sweat pants from the medical bay? Bring a pair of those. They're one-size fit all, I don't want to ruin your father's clothes," Junior replied.

The indigenous Fox nodded and said, "I'll do that, set up camp. I'll bring the uniform you wore over here, also. I'll be there in 4 hours. Dress light. I was there last year during the beginning of autumn. It's now the middle of Summer and other than Snowhorn territory, it's going to be mighty hot. I'll bring you a utility vest. McCloud out." With that, Mac's face disappeared from the view screen above the dash.

Junior pushed the canopy open after stripping off the uniform pants of James McCloud, folding them properly and placing them behind the seat, with the shirt. He wore just boxers and boots now, and even in his lack of dress, the sweltering heat rushed into the cockpit and slammed into him like a wave from an intense fire.

Dropping to the grassy surface, he noticed all the dinosaurs throughout the field, grazing quietly, paying him no mind. Fox went to the cargo hold and took out the emergency field equipment, which included a tent and some poles, a shoulder harness and a blaster for the holster that was stitched into the harness.

After a moment, the canopy automatically lowered itself, reconfiguring the environment controls set inside the cockpit, which immediately caused the canopy window to grow foggy with condensation. He would have to bring Fara here just once before they went home, if time allowed. This planet was incredibly beautiful.

Within an hour, the tent was set up and several stones were placed in a circle with a few piles of wood. A strange bush-like plant hung from a tree by the water, smoldering right on the branches. Was it really that hot? With all the humidity in the air, he couldn't see how it was possible for them to burn right on the branches, but oddly enough it didn't seem to catch the rest of the tree on fire. He'd been drawn to it, but kept his distance, so as not to get burned. It would make fixing a campfire for cooking a total cinch.

The Campsite was all set up now and he took the opportunity to get himself washed. The boots and boxers were left on the ground, where they would stay dry and Junior found himself a little time to clean up in the stream. No one was around, other than the quiet dinosaurs, grazing on grass in the area.

After taking the next hour to swim, he laid down on the mossy ground, adjacent to the water, to let himself dry. An hour passed before Junior woke from his power nap. He pulled the boxers on then laced his hiking boots, tightly securing them about his ankles. As dusk neared, another Arwing appeared on the horizon, approaching the Hollow.

Junior grinned, elated that he would have something to make himself a bit more decent and awaited for his other half to find a spot in the clearing to set down. The reunion consisted of a handshake and a chuckle shared between the two, over the fact that Junior was in simple undergarment.

Mac handed the twin vulpine a pair of sweats and a vest, looking over the camp for a moment before turning to fidget with his wrist computer. He was resetting it to work as a translator which was a program that Slippy had put on it a year prior. Once that was set up, he walked back to his Arwing and pulled out two high power assault rifles and two battery powered hand-blasters.

"What're those for?" The shirtless McCloud said, taking the vest and pulling it over his arms, up over his shoulders, then reaching for the pants.

"Precaution," said the mercenary of the two. Junior smirked at the word his twin said and snatched the pair of guns, checking them before shouldering one and holstering the other.

"I don't think we're trying to blow the planet up, really," Junior said, reaching to adjust his headset with a smirk. His eyes moved to the open clearing all about them, drinking in it's lush environment. "Besides, this seems like the least endangered planet from what I've seen so far."

The Mercenary rolled his eyes, shouldering his own gun and holstering the pistol with a smirk. "You sound just like Pepper, from _my_ Corneria. No offense, but if I could blow up the planet with a blaster, I'd be the destroyer of worlds, man." Mac snatched an extra pair of high-definition goggles, tossing them to Junior before closing the cargo compartment on his fighter. "Let's go. Just remember, I don't know if the SharpClaw are pissed off at me, still, or if the Lightfoot tribe plans to pounce my ass again, I wanna be ready for _any_thing."

Junior shrugged, muttering a subtle, "Sure thing, killer."

"Don't patronize me," Mac said with a chuckle. "This way," he added, motioning towards the opposite end of the Hollow. A sign was written in what looked like scribble, but it showed up on the indigenous McCloud's PDA as "Moon Mountain Pass / Volcano Force Point Temple". The Merc's eyes panned to the left to his Military twin and grinned. "We start here. It's going to be a little weird. But we've got _two_ Force Point Temples to visit and a set of Palace ruins. But there's no way to get our Arwings up to the palace for the most part, so we've got two routes of travel."

"And those are?" Junior tilted his head.

The white-haired Fox shook his head, running a paw up through that vanilla tuft between his ears. "Scale a damn cliff or the Warp Stone. I actually scaled a mountain already, today. So that's going to make the WarpStone choice one. You know, I think we should head there, first. It's actually a better place to start for Answers. The walls are covered with hieroglyphic writing and if Team Toad can figure out what it says, we should be all set," The Mercenary McCloud said.

"Let's go, lead the way."

Mac nodded, heading through the clearing and up a grassy hill, through a crumbling hole in an ancient brick wall. On the other side was a circular stream that ran down into the main part of the hollow, in the center, a giant statue sat motionless. The two McClouds approached the front of the statue and the shirtless Fox stepped back, letting his counterpart take care of business, here.

Indigenous Fox lifted his paws to his muzzle and shouted up at the stone, "Hey! I'm back, I need to go to the Krazooa Palace, wake up!" The stone was motionless. McCloud stepped back, standing directly in a circular patch of discolored grass and shouted again, "Hey! Warpstone! Wake up, man!" The statue didn't budge. He glanced over his shoulder at Junior and frowned. "I know this has got to look... totally off the wall, but this thing really moves and talks."

"I think you really don't want to scale a mountain," said Captain McCloud, shaking his head softly.

Mac nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right, I don't. And this thing is perched up on a cliff with a straight drop of nine thousand feet. It sits on the summit of the second highest part of the planet, with a building ten stories tall. We're gonna be on the rooftop, by the end of the night. I've landed my fighter on the roof at one point, but it's tricky because of how hard it rains up there."

"It rains at that height?" Junior inquired with an incredulous air, his brow quirked.

"It's not cold in that climate. Just rains a whole lot. Not always, but eighty-five percent of the year, it has rainfall up there. So, there's another problem," Fox told the Captain, with a slight shrug. "I could try and land us up there, but only one Arwing could fit. I don't have room for the second person, and then, to get inside the main part of the building, we'd have to rappel ten stories down the side, but it's another nine thousand feet before you hit the bottom if you fall. So the thing is, would you be willing to get air dropped from a harness, since both of our fighters are a one seater?"

"It's possible, but who pilots and who dangles?" Junior asked, folding his arms across the front of his chest, causing his vest to bunch up somewhat. He still wore the red bandana under his neck, however.

"Paper, Rock, Scissors?" Mac asked with a grin. "You know, we're both going to try and wind up thinking the same way and picking the same thing."

"Probably," Junior admitted "But I get worker's compensation, so I'll dangle. You've flown and landed on there before, you drive. Besides, I'd feel bad if I dropped you," Junior added at the end, with a grin.

"Wouldn't want to guilt ya, if I bit the dust, c'mon, it's going to be a forty-five minute flight at a speed that slow enough for you to breath," Mac said, reaching behind his head, scritching the nape of his neck with a sigh. It was a long time to leave a shirtless man in the wind.

The military fox shook his head and smiled. He had an idea. "Oxygen mask. I'll crawl up into your storage hold, after we put all the gear into mine, then when we're there, I'll drop down on a harness. Let's go," Junior said. His military mind was quickly utilizing their fighters as best as possible. He would fit in there, if he laid in the fetal position. It was going to be awkward but not impossible.

-

* * *

Kit Karamak McCloud, nephew of Fox and boyfriend of Diane 'Snowy' Rosen sat down on a rock, squinting into his binoculars. The herd of small dinosaurs trampled across a field in various formations, heading off into the distance. He put the binoculars into his lap, his gaze shifting to Snowy, gently tugging her onto his lap.

Diane shifted her weight to get comfortable, sitting across his thighs, looking out over the paradise with a soft sigh. "It's such a beautiful place here. It's kinda hard to believe Corneria was planning developments to be built," She said with almost remorse. There was so much to this planet that putting a large population on it would be downright bad. But it didn't matter, she still wanted to live here, more than anything. It was incredible, without a doubt.

"What's on your mind?" Kit asked quietly. Running his fingertips through her hair, he rested his chin on her shoulder, looking out over the field. She smiled at her affectionate boyfriend, nuzzling into him at his soft scritches.

Snowy leaned up, still upon his lap. "I'm actually just keeping an open mind... There's too much to try and think about with Fox's situation, not including the fact he's about to propose to Krystal. That's gonna be so awesome, I wish I could be there to see her face for it."

"Yeah," Kit's voice trailed off into more of a murmur, the two simply holding. Above them, the clouds swirled open and a vortex of light began to shimmer, far above. Kit and Snowy raised their heads, looking up into the sky, curiosity causing their hearts to race at the oddly fantastic sight.

Without further warning, a constant, solid beam reached down from the heavens, striking the field, causing several of the nomadic dinosaur groups to split up, the herds forking around the massive pillar of illumination. It was such an awesome display, even the rocks in the area, including the one that Kit and Snowy sat upon, began to become incandescent, radiating with what could only be described as an aura.

Both pilots rose to their feet, squinting down at the field below, where the beam met the ground. They slid down the hillside, heading for the field, now that the dinosaur stampeding began to shift in a different direction, heading away from the light. The two approached it cautiously, Snowy pulling out sensory gear.

"It looks like some sort of tractor beam but according to this readout, there's absolutely nothing here. It's just thin air with no energy reading, certainly nothing that would make every stone in the area glow," She reported. They approached the beam, only a few feet from it now, nearly close enough to reach out and touch it.

Kit nodded, reaching out to swipe his paw through it. His furry fingers passed through the light with no effect. He drew his soft digits back to his eyes, but there was nothing different, no burns, nothing.

"Wait, I'm starting to read something," She said, holding the sensor equipment up infront of the light, hoping that it would read better. "I've got matter and it looks like it's starting to materialize or amass, directly infront of us."

"Well this light looks like enough 'mass' to make the Dinosaurs change direction of their herd to head away from it and around it," Kit replied, peeking over at the display on Snowy's sensor display. "What's the matter?" He grinned, trying to make a joke of the fact that something solid was forming, although they couldn't see through the light to tell, for themselves.

"Funny. Yes, it's solid matter but it's growing in size and density... as well as complexity. It's starting to resemble a being, but it's difficult to tell," She said, shaking her head.

Kit glanced back to the massive pillar of light, taking a serious expression, hoping that this wasn't going to be something very bad. The light began to dissipate, the rocks and stones in the immediate area losing their glowing luster, fading to normal. Directly where the pillar of light was, previously, stood a crystallized statue-like being.

It resembled a highly detailed, life-sized battle chess piece, from one of the boards they had back at the base. It stood about 5 foot 10 inches, with fantastic 15 inch scythes for wrists and hands. The articulate nature of the statue's battle gear on it's chest, a crisscross of what looked like leather straps, over it's shoulders, holding a solid metal plate over it's torso and back, decorated in beautiful patterns and glyphs.

They were so completely drawn in with simple fascination that they both jumped, startled, when Krystal's voice came over the communicator. "I sense something angry and full of passion for bloodshed, are you guys all right?"

"Somehow," Snowy began, looking down at her handheld sensor unit, "A solid stone statue has just arrived directly infront of us. Could this be how the Monarch Dodora wound up on Fortuna? Things from other dimensions are winding up in this Lylat, from animals to statue objects?"

"Possibly, but I sense a new presence in your area, and I can feel in my chest, a feeling of fear, anger and rage. It... feels like you're being hunted," Krystal explained. Snowy shook her head, followed by Kit.

"Sorry, we're just checking out this Statue, and we're in the middle of a field. There was a dinosaur migration going on," Kit said, clearing his throat then continuing, "But that stopped when this thing appeared. We're pretty far out in the field, so I don't see anything else that coulda beamed down here to sneak up on us," He said, panning his gaze about the clearing.

"Stay sharp. I'll monitor your progress from here, Krystal out." No sooner did her transmission cut, did Kit's communicator lose signal. The reception indicator went from full to zero. That's when Snowy nudged him, pointing at the statue and backing away.

"What?" Kit tilted his head, looking at the harmless chunk of concrete with his brows raised.

"It's..." Snowy's words didn't matter. Kit saw it now, too. The concrete shell was cracking. Some of the details on the stone statue's body and armor began to lose definition in parts where the concrete started to liquefy. Across the head and arms, down to the scythes, the stone was cracking at several joints in the being's form.

Snowy's sensor gadget began to chirp. The proximity alarm warned of a new presence in the area, directly infront of them. The two backed up a bit further, Kit drawing a personal blaster. He took aim as they backed away slowly. Suddenly, the stony figure shattered, dust swirling about it and a perfectly replicated live being stood where the statue sat only a moment before.

It growled and hissed, gnashing it's teeth and swinging those razor sharp scythes at them, turning to walk towards the two. Snowy slowly began to pack the sensor display and secure it to her uniform, still walking backwards, very slowly. "It doesn't look happy. After hearing what Krystal said, feel free to shoot it, sweetheart," Snowy said in a very slow, calm voice, trying not to startle or piss off the unidentified freakish being. It had no fur, but a muddled, black fleshy face. It resembled some measure of monster, approaching them at the same speed in which they backed away.

Kit lifted his wrist comm to his lips, speaking into it as the two backed away slow and cautiously. "Away team two, to the Fox Twins," He said, trying to keep his sense of humor about the situation.

"Go ahead, Kit." It was the brash tones of Mercenary Mac, Fox McCloud indigenous to this universe. "I'm dropping my twin on the summit of Krazooa Palace, and it's a 9,500 foot drop to the bottom if I miss, isn't that nice?"

"Great, beautiful. Love to chitchat, but right now, I've got an unknown hostile on the Planet's surface and we're about five feet from it. Isn't that nice?" Kit replied, in the same ending inquiry, just to be sarcastic.

"Shoot it," Fox replied.

"I'm about to, Uncle Fox. If you don't get any reply, it's because my reception is being strange. I can't even raise GreatFox at all, just so you know." Kit then lifted his blaster back to sight the creature, pulling the trigger. The blaster shot slammed into the beast's head, causing it's head to whip back. It looked pissed off now, raising it's scythes. "Dammit," He muttered under his breath.

Snowy frowned thoughtfully. "That's how we say hi in this universe, mister freak," She said, still backing away, along side of Kit. Suddenly, the freakish being lunged at the both of them...

-

* * *

Fox Junior knelt on the roof of the Krazooa Palace, wind rustling through his fur, drizzle falling about the area. He spoke into the communicator headset, to his other half. "All right, it appears to be safe to land. You ready to scale down the side of this thing?"

"Sure," Came the reply from Mac, over Junior's comm. "Let's make fireworks and get paid," Came an addendum to the reply. Junior shook his head, walking up onto the large block podium in the center. Just a year earlier, Krystal hovered above this platform, suspended inside of a glasslike crystalline cage. Her name was fitting for that reason.

The Arwing lowered to a clear section of the roof and within a moment, Fox joined Captain McCloud, stopping to look over the side at the dizzying 10 story plummet to the concrete courtyard overlooking another nine-thousand foot drop. Mac unshouldered his backpack and began pulling rope and pegs from it.

He pulled a small gun with a hook half buried in the muzzle, then pointed it half way down the wall and fired. It snagged into the wall tightly and he gave a tug on the cable that ran out the backside of the gun to a spool in his backpack. "All right, Cap'n. You go first. I'll give you more rope, you tie the end into where the hook-shot is burried in the wall half way down, then drop to the bottom, carefully. This gun will let me use it as ... well you'll see, but it's more dangerous my way, if you're not used to using one of these, so move your tail," He said, liking the fact he was ordering around a captain.

"Yeah, yeah - you ready, Fox?" Junior asked, glancing over the side one more time. It _was_ quite a drop, without a parachute. He took the rope in his paws and began to climb over the side, the wind and drizzle whipping at him on the wind sheer present on the building's side. Within ten minutes, he made it all the way down to the first story. Mac couldn't have been prouder.

He tied the rope around the nearest goatee of one of the Krazooa Statues on the roof, then took the gun tightly in his paws and leapt over the side. As he fell, he turned his body about, placing his boots against the wall to slow his descent. Dust and loose rubble clouded up in his wake as his shoes dragged the wall surface, more than half way down now. He straightened his back and legs, slowing him to a near stop about two and a half stories from the bottom.

From here on out, he walked his way down the wall, hopping from the rope to the ground with a grin, after making it look so easy. Junior cast a light grin, seeing how confident his other half could be. The two exchanged nods before Mac walked passed him, heading for the entrance. Fox Junior fell into step, the two making their way inside.

It was empty. It wasn't filled with injured EarthWalkers like last time Mac was here, just an eerie, empty set of halls and a few deteriorating fuel cell stations that were out of service. Junior's gaze panned about, the fur standing up upon the back of his neck. "This place feels haunted."

"Get over it, there are spirits all over this place," The mercenary said, stopping just short of an intersection and peeking around the next corner. "What... the hell is _that_ thing?" Fox Junior knelt down, peering around the same corner, his head poking out into the intersection beneath his doppelganger.

"Good grief, Fox," The captain muttered. "Guess you were right about bringing those guns, good planning."

"Feh. I was hoping they would be for looks. As much as I love to blast the bad guys, that thing looks like serious trouble. I didn't bring any grenades, either. All right, let's ask the guys to drop-transfer us some equipment. I don't think that guy can pick up our guns with those huge blades for arms," Mac replied, pulling his assault rifle around from the shoulder strap with his right paw, while lifting his left paw, speaking into the wrist communicator.

"GreatFox, this is Fox, you guys read?" Nothing. He glanced down at his wrist-comm and frowned. Kit was right, no reception. But that made little sense, should have been acting like a huge Satellite in the atmosphere. Was their signal being jammed by something else? "You try, Captain," Fox said, checking the safety of his rifle.

Junior pressed a button on his headset and spoke clearly but quietly, "Captain McCloud to GreatFox." Nothing. He pressed another button to make the call on all channels. "Captain McCloud to GreatFox, do you read? We've engaged enemy hostile forces, Over?" His voice could be heard with a measure of shrieking feedback on Mac's wrist communicator.

"This is Kit, all ties to GreatFox have been jammed because if you do a signal trace, we're getting our transmission bounced back at us," Mac's Nephew said with a wanton sigh. "I've found a weak spot on these guys with the sharp arms. It's very difficult to hit, so we're going back to our fighters to procure a Sniper Rifle... but, you need to hit'em in the neck to take'em out in one kill. Everything else is thick armor. You can knock'em down or out by hosing them in the face with an automatic rifle, but it's just a waste of ammunition unless you're surrounded."

"Thanks, Lieutenant," Replied the Captain, clearing his throat and returning his attention back to the monstrosity out in the next room. By this time, however, it was beginning to approach, having heard them from the nearby corridor. "Crap. Here it comes, Fox. You ready?"

"I'm ready to beat it's ass," The mercenary replied with a scoff of confidence. He then bolted around the corner, running with his blaster unholstered, his rifle resecured over his shoulder. The good Captain was sure to follow, pulling his own assault rifle out, to provide covering fire, so that his Mercenary counterpart could concentrate on taking careful aim on such a sharp approach. It would be a difficult shot to be sure.

Fox Junior's rifle gushed hot pulses of laser fire, beading over the monster's head and chest on a fast approach. It seemed dazed, unable to attack under the harsh onslaught of blaster fire. Mac kept his arms firm and his elbows loose, feet crossing one passed the other, his eye gazing down the pistol's sight. A single shot lanced out, striking the beast directly in it's throat.

Much to the surprise of both McClouds, the head snapped up, it's jaw dropped open to screech in defeat then simply began to glow. A fiery aura surrounded the beast, with yellow streaks lancing through it, as if it was a ball of lava, cracking and shifting before disintegrating into a wisp of ashes which fluttered upward, propelled outward by the heat of the monster's combustion. The illumination that had emanated from the dying creature was extinguished.

Fox and Fox knelt down on either side of the messy pile of ashes, examining the freakish remains of the dead monster, both shocked that it cremated itself upon death. The Captain lifted his head, facing his twin and muttered, "That was different."

"Yeah," Mac agreed. "So much for taking it back to the GreatFox for study... at least not intact. I'd really like to know more about what we're up against, so I can figure out what else to use on it. I can't hit the thing in it's neck every time, no one's that good of a shot."

"At least you're honest."

"Humble, Captain. I know I'd probably miss at least once if we were surrounded by one hundred of these things," Mac said with a grin. Junior shook his head, scooping a pawful of ash into his vest pocket and pulling the Velcro cover down, securing the pocket and it's contents.

"You're also full of..." Junior paused, his ears perked. "I heard something. It sounded like it came from this way," he said, bolting off towards a hallway across the large room they stood in, now. His Mercenary counterpart followed, keeping his pistol drawn, as it was more accurate than a high power rifle.

A room opened up unlike anything Fox Junior had ever seen before. There were platforms that were suspended by tension cables in the center of a pillar-shaped room, 10 stories high. A walkway ledge circled each story, as far up as they could both see. The Fox native to this universe knew this room well. Once upon a time, each platform had massive fan blades spinning that propelled his body upwards to the next ledge, but none of them were running.

"I don't know what I heard, but it came from here. How do we get up there? You left the rappel-gun outside, so we could get back up the wall later, right?" The Captain asked with a frown.

Mac groaned, scolding himself. "Yeah, that was pretty damn dumb of me. There should be a way up to the roof through here, as well, but bringing it would have been smart, just in case. I could go back and get it. Usually this place has power and massive fans lift you up to the next ledge, it's pretty crazy. This place was dreamed up by some insane person, I'm sure."

"Let's not be so eager to separate just yet," Junior said, walking along the smooth, well rounded walls of the bottom of the cylinder-shaped chamber. This was a mess, the place was a labyrinth and that helped nothing. A tapping sound came from above them. "There! That's what I heard! It's above us," He said, pulling out his high definition goggles.

The Mercenary Fox McCloud squinted about the 9 stories that were above their current floor, his jaw dropping, his ears laying flat at the sight of several of the scythe-armed beasts approaching the edge of several floors, as far up as the very top walkway. The one from the 10th floor dropped down first, sailing through the air. Junior saw it too, putting his binoculars away and pulling out his assault rifle.

Somewhere around the 6th story, it shifted into the statue form of itself. This caused it to fall with less resistance, speeding up, not just from the density but because it dropped through the air more quickly. It slammed into the first story floor, but to the team's amusement, it didn't stop. The floor crumbled beneath the stone creature, which was apparently hollow.

"Here's a tip, falling 10 stories onto a floor without a solid block of foundation is a good way to ... aw hell," Mac said with a chuckle, "I don't even think I can come up with something funny to say to that. That was just classic, man." His words got a nod of agreement from Junior. The furry Captain knelt down by the hole, flashing a small Maglite into the inky void beneath them.

"Get ready, the rest seem like they're ready to jump down and pounce our tail at any second," Junior said, still gazing down into the hole. There was no sign of the creature. Just a statue that seemed to be broken into several fragments, down in the basement of the room.

"Yeah, well... I guess he didn't survive the fall as gracefully as he would have liked. Guess that makes them dangerous and ugly, but not too smart," Mac said, keeping his blaster aimed up at some of the threatening looking monsters that stood at the edge of the walkways, several stories up.

"I say we go down there. Maybe those guys up there realized that jumping down here isn't the best way to fight us. I have a feeling they learned fast," Junior said, still peering down into the hole.

"Fair enough. Ladies first," Mac said, keeping his gun sights pointed upwards, just in case. Junior shrugged off the silly immature comment and began to slide down into the dark hole in the floor, feet first. He lifted his arms, his body slipping into the abyss. After a moment, Fox heard the Captain's voice shout up from the hole in success.

"C'mon down, it's safe. Yeah, this thing shattered like a vase. That's their other weak point, it seems. If we can catch'em before they change, they shatter. Let's go!" Junior flashed the light upwards at the hole, waving it at Mac to follow. The Mercenary shook his head, rolling his eyes. He sat down, sliding his legs into the hole, keeping his gun pointed upwards on the monsters above him, then slide downwards, disappearing underneath the floor of the huge round room, having never known, in the past, to venture underneath, through the thin flooring into the hollow space beneath.

The two stood side by side now, Junior holding his flashlight, Mac holding his pistol. Without warning, the walls began to incandesce, filling the room with light. It was a square grand-ballroom style hall. At the far end stood an ominous being, it's arms folded. The guy wore some sort of ankle-length cloak and the shoulders of the fabric rose upwards in an odd looking garment. He had no fur, but stood up right on two legs, much as they did. The being wasn't even from Lylat.

It's flesh had a soft greenish/grayish tint to it and the large, ovular eyes were the blackest obsidian. It's gaze seemed both evil and yet neutral all at once. The two foxes faced the being, beginning to approach, slowly. Junior had a bad feeling in his gut about this guy, while the Mercenary Fox McCloud opened his muzzle to introduce himself.

"We're both Fox McCloud from the StarFox team. Who are you and what are you doing here?" Mac asked this, keeping his tone professional and courteous, as the two approached. He was a little tall, maybe about 6'5", give or take an inch.

"I know who you are," The being said in a very subtle, smooth voice. It may have been a little weird looking, but it was damn sure to have the most awe inspiring voice they'd ever heard. It was like a song voice, almost. "It was I who brought you both here. This has happened, for I need you both. Without you both, there is no way the other can succeed."

Junior quirked a brow. "One of those, 'all will be lost' scenarios, Sir?" They continued their slow, cautious approach of the ethereal being. "And what are those things up there, with the razor arms?"

"They are the pawns. They are thieves and work for the greater force, The Black Templar. They've come to release the Krazooa spirits, break the seals and take the Force Stones. So I have assembled you both," The being said in that soft, melodic, masculine voice.

"So they're bad guys? How come that one jumped off the top floor, up there?" Mac asked, pointing his gun back at the hole in the ceiling that leads up to the chamber above.

"I forced him to fall. Without his plummet, there would be no hole in the floor. And you would not have found me. I have the answers you seek, but to return you both to a state of complete safety, I will require your assistance."

"How did you bring me and my team here? It wasn't you that threw us into the black hole," Junior said, still distrusting the being.

"These pawns that you have fought, are controlled by a manipulative spirit species, who works for The Black Templar. They manipulated a being to remove the spell stones from the force point temples in Your Lylat, Fox McCloud Junior. The planet was destroyed and the Krazooa civilization was destroyed, before Corneria came to evolve from simple animals and wildlife. That is why you have your Asteroid Belt. The gravity of Corneria caused much of Sauria to orbit Corneria."

Mac frowned. "What about Meteo, our asteroid belt?"

"Lylat and it's parallel are a simbiant pair of dimensions. That simple change, twenty-five thousand years ago caused every difference between your two dimensions. Had it not happened, had they not succeeded, there, everything would be identical. It cannot be reversed. The Galaxy is a living, self-repairing aware entity. It opened the black hole in both Asteroid belts, using fate, to allow rocks from one universe, to traverse to this universe, so that the two would match. But even the powers that be do not replace entire planets, including every being lost. Life is irreplaceable."

"So you're telling me, that the two Lylat systems are trying to have some measure of similarity, to heal itself and restore order, but because of that one lose of Sauria, in Junior's home universe, it caused an effect that chaotically changed most details and events in some way?" Mac had heard this term before, but he couldn't remember the details.

Junior turned the flashlight off, pushing it into his pocket. "So Chaos Theory, or whatever that theory is called, created that infamous butterfly effect, and the loss of a planet changed billions of details, some as minute as having one different family member, causing Fox , here to have different color headfur, and me to have lost my father differently?"

"That is correct. Every difference. The death of Fara Phoenix in one universe, the decision made by the hospital staff during the birth of Slippy Toad, the debris that destroyed Aquies and Zoness in your Lylat," The being said to Junior.

"So are you gonna tell me that you're the last remaining Krazooa?" The milky headfured Fox asked, holstering his blaster.

"Incorrect. I am an artificial intelligence made by them, who survived the ice age that brought a return of the Dinosaur population. I have a mission for you both. Without the success of this mission, both Lylat systems are in grave peril. Sauria, Aquias, Zoness and Fachinia will not be the only planets to be destroyed in the alternative Lylat system. For one of you to try and take on this mission alone, the numbers are statistically impossible," The being said.

"How did you push that guy off the tenth story, mister Artificial Intelligence?" Mac asked.

The being lifted it's hand, causing part of the shattered stone remains of one of the 'pawns' to fly outward and land in his palm. "Artificial telekinesis. I have honed my intelligence and am able to learn at my own rate. You must retrieve the force stones from the other Lylat and bring them here. It will keep them out of the hands of the Black Templar in that universe, and the combined power of all the spell stones on this Sauria will provide enough of a protective barricade that they'll be safe for all time," the being explained.

The two McClouds looked at one another, it was impossible to judge his personality or character. He could have had an ulterior motive and without each team's resident Telepath, it was nearly impossible to guess at this guy's intentions. He could have been the Black Templar Spirit or whatever in the heck he was talking about. Fox Junior's eyes shifted to the other Fox.

"Give us a moment to discuss this?" The Captain said, turning to his other half and leading him a few feet away from the ethereal being, so they could speak in private. "Yeah, I don't trust this guy, what about you?"

"Of course not, he's not putting a retainer fee down, he must not mean business. But then again, if he offered more than a modest amount, I wouldn't trust him either. What're your reasons?" Mac asked, grinning slightly about the joke over money.

"We have no reception in which to contact GreatFox," Junior reminded his twin. "We're blocked from My Peppy and your Krystal. The only two people who would be able to help us make a decision on this guy. He gave me a little display up in Orbit, by bouncing energy bolts of the same energy resonance frequency, right off the planet's atmosphere, manipulating me to think this planet has answers. Here we are. I think he's the guy he was talking about, why else would he want all the spell stones brought to him? Something doesn't smell right."

"But here we are, he's already provided answers as to why things are different, you think that's a lie too?" Mac asked, keeping his head low, near his other half, so that their conversation was kept private.

"He can probably hear us anyhow," Junior mused. "But that would be our luck. Now, if he has the power to send us over to my side to retrieve these spell stones buried in the asteroids of our belt around Corneria... I'll be impressed and we can assume that even if we take this mission from him, we can use the ride back home. Then, hopefully by then, we'll know if this guy is legit, because Krystal and Peppy will put their heads together to figure this guy out for us."

"You're saying, if he manipulates us into doing his dirty work, we manipulate him back by not giving him the Force Stones from your Lylat and just using him for the free ride home?" The indigenous McCloud grinned deviously. This military guy might have a little mercenary in him, just yet. "You're clever. And if he's legit and is something left behind by the real Krazooa to protect this place or something, we can shove the things up his butt and a mission success gets everyone back where they belong and we all feel good about saving the universe and every dimension in existence and all that, and all that happy stuff?"

"Exactly," Junior said, patting his twin on the shoulder.

"Well, since I have a healthy bank account again, I think I can spare doing something exciting for free," Mac joshed, patting the Captain back on his own shoulder. "I say if we don't run into this Black Templar guy, then we know this guy is being one sided, so to speak. But we're going to need help with this."

"What about the guy who's dating your sister?" Captain McCloud asked.

"Dude!" Mac stood up straight, putting his paws on his hips, shouting so the entire room could hear. "Does EVERYONE know about that?"

"Don't think I would avoid a 4 hour chance to converse with Fara, while waiting for you to arrive to Sauria. Besides, Kit knew about it because he still keeps communication with his Aunt," Junior said, rolling his eyes, trying not to blush at his doppelganger's outburst. "Listen to me, I don't know the guy but if he's a good pilot and he doesn't want you to die before your chance to personally apologize to your sister, and goes out of his way to treat you like his personal ward, then bring him," Junior said, folding his arms.

"We'll see. I don't want too many cooks in the kitchen and he's no busboy or tender," The mercenary admitted with a foul sounding sigh. "But right now, let's talk to this guy and get the hell out of here."

"Personally, I think Andross threw us over here, and he's taking advantage of the coincidence. But if he has the power to get us back, I'd be more willing to believe him," Junior said, stealing a glance at the being, over his twin's shoulder.

As if to prove Junior's earlier statement right, about the guy's ability to hear their private conversation from across the room, he raised that pleasant, yet powerful voice once more and said, "Andross threw you into the black hole. I saw the opportunity to beg your allegiance and so I created the wormhole to pull you out and into this Universe. I was unable to confront you both, prior to this point, because you and your team was not ready," The Krazooa duplicate added. "Now that you've all found yourselves... your true selves, you'll be able to work as a team to accomplish your goals. It's true, there are still kinks to be worked out, but your chances of survival have increased. And if it is monetary favors you wish, young Mercenary, I have no use for the forgotten treasure of Sauria. I will give to you, a small piece, worth the value of your cruiser ship, and no more...this is upfront, for trying."

"For trying? What's that supposed to mean?" Mac asked, turning away from Junior, crossing his arms across his chest. The military twin stood besides him, crossing his own arms over his still-bare chest.

The computer-generated AI Krazooa lifted it's chin, glancing down it's nose, adding to the effect of the seriousness of the matter. "If you do not succeed, money will be of no use. You will not be able to spend it, because this Lylat will attempt to resemble the other Lylat. But because of the effect of the law of Chaos, I cannot guarantee it will be Zoness and Aquies that are destroyed. After twenty-five thousand years, the orbit has changed enough that, by my personal calculations, it would be Corneria and Katina that are effected by Sauria's destruction. With an asteroid belt already in place infront of Corneria, more rock debris would cause a clutter, pushing asteroids into Corneria and Katina, the forth and fifth planet from your sun, and the devastation would end all life on those two planets."

The being tilted it's head, adding, "Are you willing to risk not giving your all? Are you willing to try, so that you have something to come home to and spend your fortune, enjoy it and live to a respectable age for a mortal species? I can see that you do not trust me, so I invite you to bring your telepathic crew to visit. I've often found myself currious if such abilities work on sentient, intelligent beings created from someone other than the Goddess, herself..."

Junior had to offer a soft smile at that. The guy was sounding like he was a curious, lonely explorer, talking like that. "And if they're able to read your heart and mind, will that solve your questions?

The Krazooa shook his head slowly. "If that question is answered in a positive outcome, I will pursue a new inquiry."

"And that is?" Mac asked, looking the being over with a thoughtful frown.

"If I have a soul," The Krazooa replied. "Now, time is of the essence. I know you didn't know this, but when the two systems line up and their orbital patterns match, the dimensional differences are saw as wounds and the healing properties of the actual cosmos itself began to mend, so that the two systems resemble one another, more closely. Once they're identical, the healing will be complete. As you can see, this means every living being is effected. Everything has to match, right down to the choices that are made on both sides of the dimensional border."

Both McClouds blinked. "Wait a minute," The mercenary said, shifting his weight and starting to approach the Krazooa. "Then how do these Force Stones mean jack? having two full sets in the same universe would screw up the whole healing thing even further and it could cause even more devastation!"

"Yeah, this sounds like crap, you just want the damn things for yourself," Junior snapped, pulling his assault rifle from his shoulder.

"The Lylat in which this being came from," The Krazooa said, pointing at Captain Fox McCloud Junior, "Is in the alpha pattern. When the Universal cleansing happens, the secondary Lylat will try to mirror it. This Lylat will be filled with a chaos that was witnessed by the other Lylat 25,000 years ago. However, that long ago, the forth and fifth planets were not populated by a civilized species. The Lylat from which this visitor has come from will be unharmed by this Cleansing. But I would like to hope that this StarFox team feels the way I do... That this system needs not parish needlessly. These stones have the power to protect Sauria, by holding it together, even with otherworldly forces attempting to rip it apart. Two sets would be enough to save this entire system. I cannot, however, guarantee which system will be in the position of Alpha the next time the orbital patterns are in matching positions, 24,984 years from now. I can only make sure that both sets of Force Stones are used to protect it, if I'm still around, by then."

Both McClouds eyed one another, knowing the other was suspicious of this weirdo. Something just didn't seem right about him. This guy laid things out in a seedy worded way that made little sense in many aspects. It sounded like a mishmash of half truths. But right now, if this guy was saying they needed to go to Junior's universe, he most likely had a method to get them there, safely. That was the one thing that made them agree to this entire ordeal.

"We'll do it, but we have errands and questions, first. But those questions will be in the paws of our team, which," Junior smirked, taking the pause as a chance to add his own little sort of drama to the situation, "Isn't just two telepaths. It's two engineering geniuses, two big-gun pilots and two second-in-command personal," He continued, speaking of Krystal, The alternative Peppy Hare, Both Falco Lombardi's, Fara and the grandfatherly Peppy from this side of the galactic pond.

"Yes, I know of your team. I brought them together, did I not? However, I advise against allowing the Mercenary, Lord Wolf O'Donnell to help your team. If I could suggest, bring the Snow Leopard instead," The Krazooa said, looking over the two as if he were some omnipotent being. "Now, I will send you back to your ship. Make use of the platform fans, in the section above. My apologies, I cannot fight off all the reanimated stone creature pawns, but there are 7, that should help you plan your way up."

"We'll be back with the team to interrogate you," Mac said, folding his arms. "We're not going to speak for our team, they have the right to choose. We lead them in missions they want to be apart of, got it?" The Mercenary decided, right there, that Snowy would have to stay here, first and foremost, to explain what happened if they don't come back, so the Cornerian military can search Sauria for this guy. Second of all, he decided that he would ask Wolf to join the team, before heading over, because of the simple fact he didn't trust this guy and he wanted to throw some sort of loop into this guy's plans, just in case he was counting on something to be precise.

"Guess we'll be leaving then," Junior said, turning to his twin, who nodded, the two heading back towards the center of the room, standing underneath the hole in the ground. The floor began to shift beneath them and slats opened very slightly, the blades of a fan beginning to spin, growing in speed. Within a half of a moment, it's power was enough to lift both McClouds to the ceiling, where they were able to climb up into the chamber above.

Above them, all the platform fans were now operating normally, and they would be able to propel themselves up to the entrance in the ceiling, the way this dimension's Fox remembered to travel, when he went to visit Krystal in her glassy prison, before releasing each Krazooa spirit.

And strangely, after taking all those tests for the Krazooa, to prove himself in worth and in heart, was this all just about to become his final test? And depending on if he helped to pull off something difficult, or if he were able to see through a hoax, would he pass or fail? Only time would tell. Time.. and a measure of success.

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(next)

Chapter 8: "Raiders, Pirates, Mercenaries, Oh my!"


	7. IMPORTANT NOTE temporary break!

CHAPTER -8- GATEWAY

Hey, I've got a ton on my plate, mostly work. I've got ideas for this story but I can't figure out how to put them down without sounding a little silly right now. In other words, I'm hunting for inspiration. I don't want you guys to think I forgot about this story!

I'll finish it, I promise. I won't take TOO long, but I'm going to take a short break from it, then update it as soon as something awesome strikes. Don't worry, I won't be gone very long!


	8. Chapter 8

_I am SOOOO sorry, I haven't updated for this story in half-a-year. For those of you who liked it, I owe you! Here, we add yet another Fox from yet another Dimension to really add a new dimension of beautiful confusion. _

_Let me know if this amused you people who follow this story. I had so much fun writing this chapter, it was insane. I hope you guys enjoy it! I edited cusswords and I plan to go back through and make a few edits. Perhaps I didn't quite understand the terms of "Teen" rating back when I first started on this, but trust me, it's the abridged version of this story, from the way it's written in Windows WORD. Heh, there's far, far less description in the intimate and innuendo parts. There's less cussing, and where it's used, it's edited out. I know some of you will have to re-read the story to remember where we are, but this is where it starts to get a bit more liniar. Leave feedback on how ya feel about the story! Toodles!_

_-kit_

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Chapter 8: "Raiders, Pirates, Mercenaries (oh my!), another addition!"

Somewhere on Fortuna… in a Lylat System somewhere in one of many Galaxies.

It wasn't a fashion or a fad. It was self amusement in rebellious form. The stark green tuft of headfur, pushed up into a Mohawk, was his second most striking feature. No matter what distance, it always seemed that his foes noticed his eye patch, first. Was there some sort of Bionic eye replacement underneath the eye patch? Rumors speculated that he was such a badass, that he didn't need such things. His reputation was a strong one, for sure.

The lupine glanced at his wrist watch, waiting in patience. The cable cars moved several hundred people a day up to the summit of Calgori Mountain, home of the richest bank on Fortuna. Problem was, their security detail was union and the bank was raising fees but cutting budgets. Security for the entire sector, employed by the parent corporation who owned this bank had only screwed themselves.

The Cable Car continued its upward ascension, carrying several corporate bigwigs to the top of the mountain to cash their corporate salary bonus checks, making Wolf's stomach turn. These slugs make an important call or two per month and let the rest of their board of members do the work every other day of the week. The very thought of their moneymaking bullshXt schemes had him seething in silence.

This cable car was filled with nothing but Illuminatiesque, unethical, esoteric, manipulative fart-knockers. Every one of them had a reason to go to this bank and an ulterior motive to do some banking today. It was the perfect group of left-wing, conspiracy-heading, conformity-loving bXstards to have in attendance today. Wolf couldn't have been happier.

Wolf O'Donnell ran a paw over his shoulder pack. High power hair dye removal gel, plastique explosives, a battery as well as jury-rigged equipment to cause the putty to explode, and finally a battery operated holographic display. With a countertop battery, he could have the thing run for about four minutes before it fizzled into oblivion. That would be four minutes he'd need to get things to happen.

The cable car shuttered as the brakes closed around the high tension line that carried the box to and from the city and bank, each day. Close to 600 people took this tram to the top of Calgori Mountain each day, with 14 cable cars in service at any given time. There were 20 bays, each with a tram to the mountain top, but several were usually out of service or unused except on holiday seasons when banking was at the busiest.

The door slid open and Wolf was the last one out, letting the rich hurry to grow richer, by making a beeline for the large revolving bank doors. Underneath his eye patch, the bionic eye emplacement began to generate a rewind video footage to his brain, showing and pausing on his prerecorded video of that trip to the planetary archives last week. Now he was looking over the blueprint plans for the bank, all recorded video footage that was stored in the jump drive keyring he carried, sending the information to his bionic implant, using 802.11X equipment.

There was a bathroom adjacent to the power grid control post, which let him kill two birds with one stone, if the deal went smoothly. There was no reason to conserve stones here, but Wolf liked to rate his game plans and the execution of these plans on point system, including style points, grace points and badass kill-score points. This one was going to be one of his better scores at the end, if things went well. But if they didn't, he could always make up for it in the coveted 'turn around' points.

He employed this system for a gig he did a year ago, when the entire plan turned to crap and he was surrounded, his only options seeming to be near death or capture. Somehow, luck was with him and he found a way out of the situation, simultaneously blowing the building up and roasting his Anti-Fanbase. He had to give himself turnaround points for that one, turning a screwed up plan into a graceful, kickass exit.

But with the way he'd planned this show, there would be no need for Turn Around points if he stuck to his plan. The revolving door scooped up several people at once, moving them into the lobby of the bank. He cut through one of the lines, heading for the bathroom. While doing this, he dropped his cellphone on the floor, which clattered noisily in the nearly silent bank. It was like a damn library in here.

Reaching for the cumbersome cellular telephone, a tiny silver diskette rolled out of his sleeve, resting on the ground and left behind. Once inside the bathroom, Wolf pulled out his hair-dye removal kit and poured the concentrated gel into his paw. After a moment of lathering the crap into his green mohawk, the lather turned to a pail greenish color and finally the naturally whitish coloration of his headfur returned. He leaned his head into the sink, washing the lathered gel out so that no trace of green could be seen.

Once this was done, he slipped into a bathroom stall, climbing up onto the back of the toilet. The heat vent above the third stall was removed and he shimmied his body up into the shaft, pulling the grate shut behind himself. It was another four meters to the power grid control office, dropping down into a crouch, relaxing his weight on his haunches. A picket sign was resting against the console, the words 'STRIKE FOR TRUTH' scrawled across both sides.

It only took a moment for his bionic optical implant to register the controls of the console, helping him hastefully determine which were the lobby lights. A flip of the switch and the entire bank was cast into pitch black. Wolf flipped a remote control switch in his pocket, mashing several buttons at once to engage the holographic image of himself in the green hair colored mohawk, standing there, trying to check stocks or.. Something... It was all done on an Internet-Ready cell phone.

After a moment, the lights were shifted back on and he picked up the public address microphone, saying, "Sorry for the mistake, ladies and gentlemen. Just a minor technical difficulty. We hope this hasn't caused any sort of banking inconvenience. Thank you," He said, releasing the 'talk' button, then adding, "FXXk-wads," with a publicly-unheard sneer of distaste.

He had four minutes. Wolf pulled sunshades down over his muzzle to obscure his eye patch, among other reasons. Dashing through the office and into the break room, he quickly elbowed a gentleman in the head, rendering the poor soul unconscious. A metallic lunch tray from the cafeteria was sitting on the counter which was quickly grabbed as he shouldered the next door open. Without even pausing, he continued into the next room, which was a hallway about 8 meters long that ran behind the main teller counter.

He dashed to the left, heading into an intersecting corridor that took him towards the vault. The glasses were designed for spot welding without blinding oneself, but Wolf had another purpose for them, besides concealing his beloved eye patch. In his back pocket was a flash grenade, pulled free and tossed into the clerk's office, knowing they had keys to the vault.

This grenade was a no-noise, low-magnesium flash explosive that generated several thousand candlepower watts, stunning and blinding everyone in the room. Thanks to the sunshades he only had mere spots in his good eye, nothing more. By the time he was back in the hallway, he had the key to the access shaft under the floor that was used to bring shipments of money up the mountain and into the bank above.

True, the rubberized conveyer belt wouldn't allow for the loot to slide down to his ship waiting at the bottom. But he had this planned out in advance, after all. Three minutes left until the battery ran out on his holographic distraction. It was a great little device rigged up by a friend of a friend. It even had a proximity detection program which was in effect even as Wolf worked his way into the safe.

Out in the lobby, a gentleman was approaching the holographic image, his gaze in a financial magazine. The Holographic image folded its arms and an audio emitter said, "Excuse you pal. Why don't you watch where the fXXk you're going. Step on my well polished shXt-kickers and I'll make sure you get personally aquatinted with them." The startled gentleman glanced up, stopping in his tracks. He nodded politely, going around the holographic image. So long as it didn't happen repeatedly, its battery wouldn't die early. Wolf accounted for such an occurrence to happen at least 3 times in 4 minutes. He could only hope these people wouldn't be more idiotic than a "3 or 4" ratio.

Not that Wolf worked in ratios but he had to know his gear to be a success. Within moments, the safe was open, the access panel in the hallway floor was open and six bags of well secured loot were sitting on the floor, waiting to be sent on their way down the mountain. They were resting in the metal food tray which was placed on the service rails on either side of the conveyer tunnel. The little indented hand-grips on either side of the tray fit perfectly over the service rails that ran along the tunnel walls.

Wolf rested several bags of money and platinum plates onto the tray and gave it a push. The incline of the conveyer shaft became nothing more than a sled on rails, sending the prize on its way. With his mission achieved, the sly pirate shut the access tunnel, tossed the keys into the doorway of the nearby office and planted his bomb on a nearby wall. This was distraction two, as well as getting rid of any forensic evidence.

A blast like this would incinerate any strands of fur that could place him in front of the safe and conveyer access. Anything anywhere else was going to have to be circumstantial evidence, since he had a job interview he never attended. That's right, a job interview as a security officer. Lord knows, the Bank would want to hire someone brave enough to work right away, in the middle of a strike. Who's to say the bomb wouldn't kill someone who may have talked to him at some point in the bathroom or power grid office?

The thought of actually showing up for an interview was hilarious, but he couldn't be placed in front of the safe, that was definitely for sure, especially with several eyewitnesses placing him out in the lobby. Now to throw the lights one more time, run out into the lobby, set off the bomb, wait until the emergency lights come on - which would take approximately one full minute in the dark - then let himself be seen in public, trying to 'flee for his life' when the bomb goes off in the back.

It wouldn't play exactly like that, but pretty close. He glanced into the office of staggering people, rubbing spots from their eyes, while rushing back down the hallway. He dashed into the office and shut off the lights then used the ability of his bionic implant to navigate his way out into the lobby and back into the bathroom. Wolf pulled out a can of green temporary dye from one of those fashion shops at the mall and sprayed his headfur as quickly as possible. The spray coated his glasses but they were no longer of any real use anyhow.

Once he felt his head was fairly soaked with the crap, he pushed the shades back into his shoulder bag and hurried out into the lobby. Just as he was picking up the holographic disc from the floor and deactivating it with his thumb, the emergency lights came on. He'd not only been ahead of schedule, having actual battery power left on his holographic projector, but he didn't break a sweat, either. Reaching into his pocket to conceal the holo-disc, Wolf groped the remote detonator and mashed the button.

It was time to 'panic' and evacuate with the dozens of fleeing bankers. When it came to solo missions like this, he had to play the game with class. He preferred to walk right in and light the joint up, but without a capable partner, O'Donnell had to play by a different set of rules.

**

* * *

**

Wolf wondered around the town for a little while. Calgori Mountain could wait until night time. He was in no hurry and he was definitely not in a hurry to get caught. The glasses were tossed into the booster on the backside of a Taxi cab. Next time the guy took off, they would be incinerated and it would be one less shred of evidence.

He reviewed the video recording of the events from the heist, pausing it at the part he went into the office to retrieve the keys after flash-popping the room. The name badge on the lady closest to the key ring read "Frannie". He then fast forwarded the footage to his glance into the room before leaving. Frannie was sitting by the doorway, rubbing her eyes.

With the bomb having gone off just outside of that doorway, she was absolutely dead and that meant if any investigators were to trace back to him being in the building at all, he would tell them his interviewer's name was .. "Frannie". They would reluctantly regret to tell him that "Frannie" was killed in a bank robbery; Wolf would gasp and say that her death was a shame and he would be scratched off the suspect list.

Not that the police had Wolf's DNA on file if they DID find a hair sample, but it was an easy cover answer. The sun set with practiced bravado, four hours after the bombing. That's when Wolf decided to make his collection. His fighter didn't have any of that high-tech shXt like Artificial Intelligence Computer flight or anything. He had to land, unnoticed, at the foothills of Calgori Mountain, then carry the prize forty-five yards to his getaway mobile. It was the crappiest part of the plan, but was the best way to pull it off, for now.

To Wolf's surprise, he found that the picketers never left. That wasn't something in his plan. He really didn't want to be spotted on the premises after a robbery, but here he was, returning to the scene of the crime to collect his prize. If he could afford a cloaking device, he could have blown their asses up and used his fighter to get the loot...he wasn't that lucky, right yet.

"We're STRIKING for TRUTH!" One of the people shouted, thrusting his sign upwards, once Wolf was spotted on his approach. "They're raising the fines and rates and cutting our pay! If they simply paid us enough to feed our families, we'd have been there to stop this robbery that happened a few hours ago! The greedy truth is that this bank's corporate people only care about pocketing more money for themselves!" the man continued, proudly.

"Give'em hell, man. I'm a mercenary, pal. I make my own work and send the bill in, minus a cleanup fee to get rid of all the bodies," Wolf said, boasting a sardonic smirk.

"Do you bank here?" The man asked O'Donnell.

"Oh me? No, when I heard about all the petty corporate crap, I made a large withdraw and walked away. After today, I probably won't even look back," The lupine said, keeping a straight poker face, but grinning inwardly at the double meaning.

"I hope that bank robber took every dollar!" The man said, continuing to grouse about his employer.

"You know what they say," Wolf replied. "The greediest bank robber gets caught. You guys are security for that place, why not see what's left and take it for yourself? Who's gonna know, the place was robbed and blown up according to the news. I'd say whatever is left of that place is yours."

"I have half a mind to do just that," The striker replied, several of his buddies agreed.

"I'm serious. If they catch you up there, just say you were just curious how much damage your strike caused, so you can better make a case to your employer, as to why you refuse to take a budget cut," Wolf said with a persuasive smile.

"Well, I am curious what's left, with there having been a bomb in there, and all," said the man in a sour tone.

"Better go see if you even have a job, before you strike against it. For all we know the place could have been obliterated. I just came up here because I saw you guys were still striking, on holovision. That's pretty bold; it takes balls to pull an all-nighter," Wolf offered, sliding his paws into his pockets.

"Who else wants to go and take a look?" The man asked his 4 buddies. Everyone agreed except for one, who demanded to hold his post until a resolution has been made. To Wolf's dismay, that left one man. Once the other 4 were gone, Wolf put his paws into his pockets, trying to decide if he should just blast this remaining boob for being a burden.

The frustrated desire to fry this moron finally got to him and he simply pulled out his stun blaster and shot the guy. Then he placed the stunner against the man's head and fired again. It left a light burn mark and a bruise against the man's forehead, slightly visible under the short hairs of his facial fur. At such proximity the high powered stunner killed the man, discounting him as a witness.

Wolf rolled his singular gaze, and headed for the access hatch delivery tunnel. He had to work quickly, carrying the bags of loot back to his fighter before heading back to the small field where the dead guy was...resting. He debated on carrying the body off, but when a missing person's report investigation lead cops to the group of strikers, they would make Wolf a suspect.

He finally decided to play the game in the opposite direction. He fished into his pockets, finding a business card in his wallet. It was a StarFox card and the clever lupine left it by the man's shoe. It was the only way he could try and manipulate the direction of a possible future investigation. Then again, he could just go up to the bank and blow away the strikers.

The problem with that was they were trained in security and out numbered him, 4 to 1. But the thought of having witnesses really bothered him. Once back in his ship, his stomach still didn't sit right with knowing four people saw his face.

"FXckkit, there's only one way to solve this," Wolf grumbled, firing his engines and lifting off the ground. He jerked back on the flight yolk, heading up the slope of the mountain, firing a missile directly into the bank. The explosion blew the top clear off the bank, leveling the building. Now he definitely had to hurry out of this place. Wolfy punched his afterburners, rocketing up through the atmosphere. No witnesses. Bigger body count. His score just went up, and it was all in a day's work.

Damn, he needed a partner. This could have been so much easier and so less time consuming. The Wolfen raced through the atmosphere, and that's when his proximity sensors went off.

O'Donnell sneered, his disdainful expression melting into one of challenge. So the mission wasn't over, just yet. Someone was trailing him, and he hated followers more than anything. A set of blaster fire lanced out through the void, striking the backside of his Wolfen, which reacted somewhat sluggishly with all the extra weight. He was still trying to break through the gravity pull of Fortuna and with his ship weighed down, it made maneuverability a bit more cumbersome.

Another shot was taken, this time his main engine began to groan from the stress. It was getting awfully hot and he knew if he didn't break through the atmosphere quickly, he was going to stall. Another shot slammed into the back of his fighter, followed by the blast of a Nova Bomb. His shielding was designed to protect against Nova shock but with his engine under so much strain, it finally quit.

The Wolfen began a freefall, spiraling towards the ground. He'd made enough of a running start, that he was hundreds of miles from the bank, but the real problem was the fact that he was still over Fortuna with a ton of money in his cargo hold.

Wolf balled up his left fist, punching the dashboard. He knew she was after him. He couldn't help but have a secret lustful crush on her, but this wasn't part of his plans and the meddlesome vixen was starting to piss him off.

The Arwing that tailed him, swooped around, following him back towards the Fortuna surface. If Wolf let her catch him, it would be a huge mess for everybody. The Wolfen's main thruster locked up, leaving only the G-Diffuser equipment and maneuvering thrusters. He fired the nose-cone brakes a few times, slowing his descent and waited until he was nearing 10,000 feet before popping the emergency chutes.

His Wolfen jerked hard as the parachute popped open, sailing gently to the ground heading for an old, abandoned Nuclear power plant. Fortuna had graduated from Nuclear Power over 30 years ago, but the plant still sat in the middle of the Del-Lusha valley, miles from anything important.

His ship gently landed upon the ground, upside down. His canopy, unable to support the weight of his fighter, cracked. There was no way he could open it or use the ejection pod, leaving him only one choice, to use his blaster and wiggle out from underneath of his vessel.

The Arwing settled upon the ground and the cockpit opened with a soft hiss, meanwhile Wolf was fumbling with his blaster, upping the settings on it. A shot was fired, lancing out through the glass, causing it to shatter completely. The frame of the cockpit cover was enough to hold the ship up a few inches, giving him room to scramble from his seat, half digging into the soft dirt, to pull himself free from underneath his Wolfen.

There she was, his gaze lifted, drinking in the lush little curves of a beautiful vixen, eyes that sparkled and a body that took away the breath of lesser men. Fox McCloud, the daughter of James McCloud, stood stoically, her balled up paws resting on her hips. She watched him stand up, sizing him up with a grin.

Wolf suddenly took two shots at her with his blaster, diving for the nearest building in the middle of the nuclear facility. All around them were old buildings, placing them in the courtyard. She ducked back, activating a temporary blast barrier on her computerized wrist gauntlet.

Wolf made a mad dash for the main building, blowing the doors wide open with his gun, which was beginning to get low on ammunition. Fox scrambled to her feet, running after him. She set her own blaster for 'stun', not exactly wanting to kill Wolf, at least not yet. There was some measure of chemistry to their cat-and-mouse game.

It was her one constant in life, anymore. The team was going hungry from lack of major work, Falco had run off, temporarily leaving the team due to a very short-lived, poorly maintained attempt at a relationship, and if she didn't hurry, Wolf was going to get away.

The problem with Falco was, the relationship was so short, and it resembled more of a fling. He stormed off, leaving the GreatFox, and now Wolf was giving her trouble. Fox wanted to sit down and seriously analyze the situation her life was in, but right now, her meal-ticket was getting away.

Two warning shots were fired, slamming into the doorframe, inches from Wolf's head. He kicked one of the metallic doors the rest of the way off its hinges, then picked it up and disappeared inside the building. Fox followed suite, cautiously stepping into the pitch black, waiting for a second for her eyes to adjust.

Foxes had natural night vision but with the twilight sun filtering in through the doorway now behind her, she had to squint at first. The thing was, their pursuit had taken them so far from the bank heist, they were in a different region of the planet, where the sun hadn't yet set.

Suddenly, there was incredible pain, as Wolf slammed part of the door across her back, then tossed the object over her fallen body. She grumbled at the burden, heaving the heavy metal door off of her backside, trying to concentrate on the sound of Wolf's footfalls as he hurried off.

She stood up, brushing herself off, scowling softly. "You know what they say about a woman scorned," She shouted, checking her blaster in the dim twilight sun that filtered in through the doorway. It was undamaged and for that small mercy of fate, she was thankful. Moving further from the entrance, her natural vulpine vision took over, as well as her sense of smell.

O'Donnell was still nearby and she didn't want to be clobbered again, so she kept her guard up. The shield barrier that deflected blaster fire began to fade, fizzling out and leaving her defenseless to being shot. She had to wonder if Wolf had his settings on 'kill'. Up ahead, she could make out the desk for a receptionist, and beyond was another set of doors. She kicked them open, raising her blaster, waiting for anything.

The hallway lead deeper into the bowels of the plant, ultra dim illumination filtered in through grimy windows that lined the hallway on either side. She was ready for anything, but she knew Wolf had the advantage here, with his rumored bionic implant. Her steps were careful, well placed, one foot in front of the other, keeping her hips turned to the side, so that she had the best balance, just incase of a frontal attack.

McCloud noticed herself beginning to breathe deeply. She frowned inwardly, taking control of her breath to maintain absolute silence. Her heart was racing, her breasts heaved with every inhale, her uniform clinging tightly to a curvy, slender frame. She knew she wasn't a super model or anything, PT every morning guaranteed she never had a weight under 100 pounds, but she had the right curves, and her ability to wield a gun made her pretty popular with most guys in this line of business.

With every delicate step through the hallway, she inched closer to the ultimate prize, her body ready and her mind sharp. She slowly raised her left wrist, using the butt of her pistol to press a button on the gauntlet. A bright green laser light reflected off of something at the opposite end of the hall. Had Wolf been standing there, waiting for her, the laser beam would have blinded him temporarily, but to her dismay, the rest of the hallway was empty.

She quickened her pace, bounding off towards the other end of the hall, kicking the next door open, and thrusting the blaster outwards, ready for anything. Nothing. She could have sworn that Wolf was very close, but so far, she was coming across rooms of nothing, one after the other.

There was a prep room and a hallway labeled, "PROTECTION ONLY BEYOND THIS POINT." The thing is, there were no longer any nuclear worries, beyond the spent fuel rods that were probably sitting in a tank that used to hold water. She glanced at her wrist computer and noted that the area was fairly safe, so long as she didn't stay for more than a few hours.

She took another sniff and grinned. Wolf was still close by. She approached the nuclear chamber, using her shoulder to ease the door open, peeking through. It was a very short hallway, possibly used for detox, with a set of electronic doors up ahead. They were pushed apart just slightly, in their metal tracks. Just enough for someone to slip through. Wolf, of course.

She eased between the doors, looking around the abandoned water pool area. The huge, square tank was over 15 feet deep and completely empty except for the spent rods down at the bottom. Actually, she was assuming they were spent. The fact of the matter was, the plant hadn't been in use for over 3 decades. She peered over the side and frowned. The water was gone and this place was never properly closed. It should have been bulldozed and yet it sat here, in silence.

Suddenly a light flickered on in a glass window above her head. Wolf's silhouette was easily identifiable and she raised the blaster, taking two shots at him. The gunfire ricocheted off the glass shielding, leaving Fox to curse softly under her breath.

She folded her arms, smirking up at him, not that he could really see her expression from such a distance. After a moment, she shrugged and headed for a nearby staircase. At the top of the steps, there was a metal hatch that was still half open. She eased through the space, leaving it ajar and headed for the control room. Wolf was probably still waiting for her, and she was all but certain he had welcoming plans.

The door was kicked so hard, that she managed to knock it free of its hinges, training her gun forward and inching through the doorway. The old control room was full of white cloth coverings that were draped over all the control panels except the one that Wolf was standing besides.

"What the hell are you up to, now? Robbing a bank, Wolf? Are you kidding? I've never seen you stoop that low before," Fox mused playfully.

"Times are hard. I need cash and as far as I'm concerned, so do you. Mercenaries at peace time?" Wolf groused. "Are you kidding, McCloud? I'd give you 15 if you walked away from this little chase, right now."

"Why not just blow a hole in your head and take all of it for myself?" She teased in reply, keeping the gun trained on him. Two could play at that game; she didn't need him making stupid bribes. She was the one in control here, and he was insulting her intelligence otherwise.

"Hm, suppose you could do that, but then that complicates things. After all, if you had all that money, who's to say you wouldn't get caught with it?" Wolf asked, a grin on his muzzle.

"After all I've done for Corneria? I'm the last person they would search," Fox quipped, taking another step towards him, the blaster still trained on his forehead.

Wolf shook his head slightly. "But there's a StarFox business card at the site of the crime. They're going to be looking for you anyhow. If you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours and have one of my men verify an alibi for ya. How long have we chased each other around, Fox? There's no reason we can't make temporary poverty a thing of the past and continue with our personal grudges later," O'Donnell said, his paw resting on the control panel that he was standing besides.

"Think you're so clever, huh? How do you know I don't already have an alibi, Wolf?" She snapped.

"Because," Wolf started, tilting his head. He grinned sadistically then added, "You were on Fortuna, else you wouldn't have been there to tail me. How do you explain that you're on the right planet with your business card left at that bank, on the ground, with all that evidence stacked against you? C'mon Fox, let's just walk away from this, and 15 isn't a bad cut, considering you didn't do all the work I had to do for it."

Fox growled softly, "You know, I've taken a lot of shXt lately from jerk off men like you, who don't give a damn, one way or the other, about anything but your wallets and your peckers. I really don't need you playing head games with me, so I hope you're not _too_ hurt that I not only decline to acquiesce to your silly little proposition, but suggest that you shove that 15 up your tailhole, O'Donnell."

"Good god you're sexy, sometimes," Wolf chuckled, reaching for a button on the control panel. There was a single yellow light on the entire panel, meaning that the auxiliary power supply was recently activated. Fox squeezed the trigger on her blaster, but not before Wolf pressed a button on the dashboard. Radiation protective shields dropped down around Wolf, which reflected her blaster shot. It bounced off the shielded panel and caught Fox square in the shoulder, spinning her like a top.

McCloud reeled back, knocking the hatch open and stumbling down the steps. She toppled end over end, landing flat on her stomach at the bottom, groaning from the weight of her body crushing her chest. She pushed her right elbow out, forcing herself to flop over onto her back, her body numb from the stun blast.

In an attempt to lift her arms or move her legs which felt like jelly, plagued with that awful pins and needles feeling, Fox simply laid there, her head swirling.

The little dots that floated before her eyes in the darkness seemed to dance teasingly before her face. Her muzzle parted open, her tongue half lulling off to the side, keeping her mouth open, so that she didn't accidentally bite it. She was numb from head to toe, and feared what her body would feel like once she got feeling back. After tumbling down a flight of metal stairs, she half hoped the numbing sensation didn't wear off for quite some time.

Her eyes fluttered shut for a moment, trying to ward off the stars but when she opened them again, Wolf was standing over her, paws on his hips. He was tall, his shoulders broad and his masculine features were sharp and well defined. In another world, he would have made decent eye candy, but nothing good could come from her lying there, temporarily helpless.

Wolf hoisted her up, taking the blaster that was lying on the floor besides her and pocketing it. He tossed her body over his shoulder, so that her face was buried against his back, and carried her into the room with the empty pool. Using his left paw, firmly placed upon her rump, he reached with his right paw to operate the controls on the wall.

Since activating the emergency auxiliary power, some of the control panels in the area were dimly illuminated. He manipulated the controls for a ceiling crane, picking up one of the radioactive fuel rods and lifting it from the empty tank.

"Hm, I could always tie you to one of those, but I hear radiation sickness can really do some internal damage. But let's see here," He said, releasing the fuel rod. It fell twenty feet to the bottom, with a loud clang. It was obvious that it didn't go back into it's designated space, laying perpendicular across the top of the chamber at the bottom.

He carried Fox to the edge of the empty pool and faced away from it, to let her look down into the massive square section once more. There were columns, each with radioactive fuel rods inserted. One of the rows had an empty spot, the radioactive rod lying across the top of the rows, like a straw that had been thrown carelessly in over top. The thing is, it may have resembled a straw from 15 –to- 20 feet up, but in truth, they were about 6 feet long, or more. She was hardly in any position to judge size in her current condition.

Wolf gave her rump a pat, although she was still too numb to notice, then he lifted her up, hooking her to the crane claws by her shirt and vest. It caused the cloth to become tight against her chest, suspended by the machine. Wolf's gaze raked over her form for a moment, then he walked back to the controls on the wall panel.

"You know, growing up, I had no idea you were a woman," O'Donnell mused aloud. He manipulated the controls, causing the crane to move, until she was way out in the center of the room, twenty feet away from the edge of the pool on all sides, and 25 feet above the fuel rods, glancing downwards with a frown. "And yet," Wolf continued, "Now that I know, years later, we keep running into each other. I can't believe what you've grown into, a few years later. Must have been something in the water, huh?"

"Kiss my ass," She grunted, trying to enunciate over her unresponsive tongue. "So, about that 15 percent," She added, as a joke.

"Right. I'm still open to the suggestion if I get a kiss for taking you down from there," Wolf replied with a joke of his own.

"I can't manage that, I can't feel my mouf," She noted. "And if I could, I'd probably bite your tongue," She continued, stealing another glance down at the radioactive pit below her. It was cliché, really. How many heroines were hoisted above a radioactive pit, in the old cartoons? It just seemed like the thing to do, these days. She tried to wiggle her toes, hoping the feeling would come back, despite the aches and pains she knew she'd be in from her stair tumble.

"That's a real shame, Fox. Are you a virgin? Is that it? Is that why you always have a stick up your butt, when you're around me?" Wolf scoffed, folding his arms, approaching the side of the empty pool, looking her over again. She was easily 20 feet away, out in the middle, now.

"Nope. Jealous, Wolf? Sad it wasn't you?" She sneered in a teasing voice.

"Wow, I'm half surprised. And yet you're broke and single, one of your key team members left according to scuttlebutt and, what else? Oh yeah!" Wolf said over laughter. "You're about to get dropped like a bad habit, because you can't manage to just let bygones by bygones!"

McCloud groggily shook her head. "Falco is on my shXt list, right now. You don't fare any better, Wolf. If I bring you in, I earn my meal ticket. I don't need you bribing me with 15. Besides, you couldn't handle me, anyhow," She said with a hint of challenge.

"Ah well, you're probably right," Wolf said. It wasn't so much a bluff, as a game of psychology. He lowered the crane, with Fox, about a foot, bringing her just a fraction closer to the old radioactive fuel rods far below. She rolled her eyes and Wolf smirked in reply, lowering her two feet.

"Keep playing games, baby." Wolf's grin grew, tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I'd love to be the one to rescue you, but you cause too much trouble. I try not to mix business with pleasure. I've not met a girl yet who keeps me fed like a paycheck."

"You bore me," Fox said, attempting to yawn, regardless of her numb muzzle.

"Real cute," Wolf chuckled, lowering her two more feet. She was now even with the surface of the pool, just fifteen more feet, give or take, to the bottom. Wolf walked away from the control panel, placing his paws on his hips and standing at the edge once more, staring right into her eyes. "You know, it's a shame we couldn't see eye to eye like this, on other matters. No pun intended of course, I don't know if we'd be able to even fly a sortie without arguing, though."

"I've got an idea," Fox said, her tongue starting to become more responsive again. "You can let me down and I can stomp your tail, just like old times. How's that sound? Our past is undeniable, Wolf. We're meant for each other. I kick your ass, you go home with a fat lip and a broken ego. Remember the good ole' times? Just like back in school, Wolfy."

"Wow, are you always this clever, McCloud?" He snapped. She replied with a subtle smile that sort of melted into a sheepish grin. She knew she struck a chord and it felt good. It wasn't a huge personal victory, by far, but it was something.

"How about I drop your tail down in there, see what it's like for ya?" Wolf said, lowering the vulpine another foot or so.

* * *

Farrel Phoenix shook his head from left to right, glancing out the side of his cockpit. For several years now, he'd been trying to outfly his reputation as a rich boy, living on his father's wealth. Today was no different. The captain was a real jerk back on the base.

"Hey BackStreet Phoenix," The captain had said, referring to the slender framed fennec, with a doll-like face, by one of the richer boybands on the market. Farrel wore his headset communicator and it somewhat resembled a headset microphone used by on stage performers. He was extremely attractive, which got him picked on by other guys. The word Pretty-Boy was a disgusting term to the fennec, who strived hard to be a career-minded pilot.

"I want you to investigate an explosion on Fortuna. Get going, pretty bo--," The captain's words were cut off. Farrel had clipped the message before the jerk could finish his sentence. No sooner did he get into Fortuna's orbital pattern, did he see a dog fight in the atmosphere.

Phoenix hung back to wait it out, then followed the two ships down towards the surface. Everything was routine except for that dog fight. Going into the stratosphere, the Arwing began to shutter gently, falling victim to an odd occurrence of turbulence.

"What in the hell?" Farrel said under his breath. The G-Diffuser system was beginning to act up, making control feel stiff. Without the system, the large blue pieces of metal behind the cockpit acted as a deterrent to flight. They weren't aerodynamic; they were a hindrance to controlled atmospheric flight, without the G-Diffuser.

The turbulence turned into an incredibly violent shaking, which caused extreme pressure on one of the rear stabilizers. Before Farrel could react to it, the left wing began to crack, putting the Arwing into a spin.

G forces started adding pressure to Phoenix's chest, making it difficult to breath. He was trained in what to do incase of a red out or black out situation, but had never experienced the actual scenario itself. Gravity was hard on his blood flow, causing him to feel woozy. His paws were growing numb. Daddy's money couldn't save him this time.

He jerked back on the stick as hard as he could, his right foot going heavy on a rudder, just before blanking out. Fatefully, the hard right rudder eventually broke the spin and the flight yolk, which was pulled all the way back, ultimately caused the Arwing's nose to climb.

It was nearly seconds before slamming into the ground that the Arwing decided to become responsive again. It pulled up, heading right for a massive building. The Arwing passed through the facility's courtyard, disappearing through a set of double doors, blowing them off the hinges. The wings became ripped off, flying in different directions.

Each wing slammed into a wall in the Lobby, like massive metal scythes, while the Arwing itself was a wingless dart. Farrel's eyes began to flutter open just as the remainder of the Arwing's hull screamed a high pitch noise, dragging along the floor at a high speed. The fuselage buckled and began to tear from the friction.

Farrel Phoenix's fighter slammed into another set of double doors, beginning a tailspin in the next room. The fighter rolled, catching a work station and began to fishtail hard. The centripetal force pinned the fennec to his seat so hard that he blanked out again. The fighter's fuel tank ruptured, flames gushing the wrong way out of the booster, through a hole ripped in the belly of the Arwing.

Up ahead, a concrete wall collapsed under the impact of the Arwing or, rather, what remained of it. It came to a stop in a round room, connecting with a large pillar in the center. The nuclear reactor began an immediate implosion, and the entire nuclear power planet was sucked inwards by the force of nuclear fission. The critical power plant that powered the Arwing had decided to blow just as the nose of the Arwing began to crumple against the nuclear core reactor. The simultaneous explosions caused a literal rip in the very fabric of space time. A hole opened up, swallowing all living matter just as the implosion began a chain reaction that resulted in a nuclear blast, mushrooming debris upwards above the power plant.

* * *

The next dimension over…

The Imperial scowl loomed over the dark landing pad, outlined by soft reds and greens. The breeze had kicked up to a fair gale as the silvery colored freighter came down upon the platform, coming to a quiet rest. Just like that, the gale had died down and everything became silent. A moment went by before the large ramp door dropped from the side of the silver hull, landing upon the ground with a dull thud. A group of cheery looking rich couples began to immediately board the gangplank, heading within.

Inside, the millings of social-whores that flutter about in their butterfly state, locked within the silver cocoon of social bliss. Each man, each woman had a price tag here. Each of them had something to offer to the imperial fleet that grew stronger every day, helping their socialite tax dollars to flourish. There was a murky feeling in the air. It was easily detectable... something big was going down tonight and everyone could sense it. Was it their keen animal senses? No, of course not. Was it the fact that there were several hundred people here, all with expensive jewelry, large wallets and brilliantly tailored clothes? Who knows?

A young, female squirrel made her way from the dance floor towards the lady's room. Pushing the door open, she rested her purse on the sink, her tail gallantly swishing behind her. She stopped adjacent to a porthole window, facing a mirror, pulling out a tube of lipstick to run across her top lip, then pressed those rose-kissed tiers together and smiled. She was quite a sight, to be sure. Suddenly her ears perked up. There was a strange grinding noise coming from outside. Going to the window, she peered out into the inky tendrils of the abyss that was a quiet Cornerian night. Nothing.

Without warning, the porthole burst inwards, catching the young, rich squirrel across her maw, knocking her back, until her body spilled across the floor. In her unconscious state, she dropped the tube of lipstick that rolled across the floor. A shower of sparks burst over the porthole opening, and skittered across the floor. The lights dimmed as a silvery shoe wiggled in through the window. Followed by a second foot, a feminine form in a ruby hued gown began to wiggle in through the window, until dropping to their feet. A purse was slung over the shoulder, as the figure pulled out a blaster, scanning the now-dim room. Leaning down, the person picked up the tube of lipstick and began to apply it.

"Ladies first? What the hell is that crap?" The figure groused softly, staring into the mirror, squinting through the dim illumination. A moment later, the first was joined by another.

A set of feet pushed in through the window from outside, slipping through and landing on the ground with a thump. "Hey, if I asked for your crap, I'd have gotten a pre-recorded tape of it, alright?" It was the voice of an egotistical Falco Lombardi. The well dressed avian was sporting a lavish dress coat blazer and a vest, matching a pair of slacks and leather loafers.

"My feet are frickin' killing me in these stupid shoes, McCloud." Falco turned to the nearest mirror, tugged down on the bottom of his eyelid, peering closely into the reflective service. "Anyway. Let's put the porthole back into the window frame and get on with this," Falco continued with a sigh. The six foot, 5 inch avian ran his winged hand back through his feathery hair with a chuckle, turning to face Fox McCloud in a ball gown, wearing lipstick and eye shadow.

"If you say one word," Fox warned, growling softly. McCloud despised this entire mission. He didn't want to sneak in, among all these wealthy idiots that were foolishly giving their money to some stupid fund raiser that probably went to Andross, let alone disrupt a party where he might get spotted. Right now, things couldn't be worse.

"Boy, if I knew you didn't have a wang, I'd be flirting like crazy with you," Falco said with a devious grin.

Fox snorted. "Shove it, jerk. Why do I have to be the girl anyway?"

"Because I'm over six feet tall and masculine looking?" Falco grinned his cocky grin, at the corner of his beak. That had to ruffle anyone's fur or feathers. It definitely ruffled Fox. The angry vulpine snapped at Falco, gnashing his teeth before storming across the room to pick up the woman who had fainted on the floor. Dragging her body into a bathroom stall, Fox sat her up, propping her against the toilet so that it looked like she might have had too much to drink. Then he turned and shut the stall door, locking it on the inside, and crawled underneath to get out. With that in order, McCloud shoved the lipstick down the front of the gown and smirked.

"If girls can do it, what the hell," he said with a chuckle. Falco shook his head in reply and hid his blaster in his inside coat pocket, re-buttoning the blazer before running his feathered fingers over it, smoothing out any wrinkles. Fox also hid his blaster inside the purse, rolling his eyes at the situation.

"Alright, we're in," McCloud whispered, putting his paw against his ear. There was a small burst of static reply before Peppy Hare could be heard.

"Infiltration is a success you say? Good, good. Continue with the mission, don't screw anything up," Peppy warned. "Remember, no bickering." Fox and Falco's gaze met, each holding challenge in their eyes for the other, of whom they had been arguing with the entire evening up until this point. Neither was on the best of terms at the moment. That would be resolved eventually but for the moment, the two were at their usual arguing and disagreeing status. It wasn't pretty.

"All right, stick to the plan. This stupid party is being held by some art freak, who owns one of the Spell Stones as part of his collection. If we get it and get out, we're that much closer to being done. I really don't want to be dressed in drag all night, so get a move on. I'll scope out the artifact on display," Fox said.

Falco nodded and motioned for Fox to leave. McCloud opened the door to the lady's room and peered left to right. Once it was safe, he motioned Falco to get out quickly. Lombardi left the women's bath room and began walking down the hallway. Fox went back to the window on the other end of the bathroom, put the window piece back into place, then walked to the mirror and practiced his feminine voice a few times, clearing his throat between each attempt.

Once he was satisfied, he left the bathroom and headed for the gallery section. They had to act quickly to get it and Fox had never tried steeling something like this before. The mercenary version of himself was completely against the idea, wanting to go in, guns blazing. He didn't want to shoot the rich people, just scare them and make them lay on the floor, then steal the piece and leave. Junior didn't want the publicity of it all. Quick, quiet and out the front door if possible.

Fact of the matter was simple; the spell stone wouldn't fit out the port hole of the bathroom and the only rear entrance to the transport ship being used for this event was the cargo hold elevator. That, of course, would alert the bridge if it was opened.

Meanwhile, in the men's room, another strange occurrence was happening. A man and a woman were in one of the bathroom stalls, making out, when the lights went dim. A burst of hot wind filled the room and after a moment, the luminescence returned to normal.

A woman was lying on the floor, wearing a flight suit, with her paws knotted behind her back. She pulled her legs up, hooking her paws downwards and brought the knotted cable over her wrists up before herself. Within seconds, she was biting her way through the tether, freeing her paws of the bonding.

The woman sat up, looking around the area, curiously. Each stall held the same thing, a toilet. All except for the last one. The vixen nearly gasped, seeing the male husky lustfully taking a woman coyote, up against the wall. The woman had her foot propped up on a toilet paper dispenser, making their act easier to achieve.

The coyote didn't have anything on the bewildered vixen's physical looks, but it wasn't like either of them noticed Miss Fox McCloud standing there, gawking. They were dressed in formal wear. This was an obvious suit and gown party and Fox had become a fair chameleon with the ability to adapt and blend in to any situation.

The vixen version of Fox McCloud quickly reached into her flight vest, pulling out a blaster, set for stun. She knew that getting out of this place, wherever the heck she was, would take camouflage and the coyote woman looked to be Fox's build. The gown was a puddle of fabric, lying on the floor and Fox didn't want to have to stun them unless they noticed the vixen standing there.

McCloud stepped into the adjacent stall, kneeling down and pulling the gown from underneath the stall walling. Once she successfully swiped the puddle of cloth and sequins, she went to the stall at the end of the row and quickly changed. Not knowing what to do with her flight suit, she snuck out of the men's room and into the women's bathroom, tossing the clothes out through the porthole.

She turned back to a mirror, checking her physical appearance. She took a minute to arrange her hair a bit better, using her fingers as a brush. Behind her, one of the stall doors opened and a flustered squirrel came out, screaming to high heaven about someone breaking in. Fox could feel her heart began to race, so she turned and used her blaster, stunning the squirrel, who slumped back into the bathroom stall once more.

The lady dropped her purse on the floor, a hairbrush tumbling to the ground. The female McCloud didn't really care much to believe in the Goddess providing such a commodity; it was more of a coincidence. Once her hair was brushed, she pulled the purse off the floor, took the wallet out and set it on the sink counter, then shouldered the pretty handbag and left the bathroom.

Her attire was perfect and just as the couple from the men's bathroom and the lady in the women's bathroom were dressed, so too was the rest of the freighter. Rich looking couples milled about, decked out in their posh garment. Fox had no idea where she was. Last thing she remembered, she was hanging from a crane above an empty pool of nuclear fuel rods.

She recalled an explosive noise that sort of sounded like a ship crashing into a building. After that, everything went bright. Next thing she knew, she was laying on the floor in a bathroom, just a few feet away from a stall where two people were carrying on like immature, horny teenagers.

A tall man in the crowd stood out to the vixen's eyes. When he turned around, Fox's heart stopped and she wanted to pinch herself and try to wake up from this odd dreamlike situation. Falco Lombardi, dressed better than she'd ever seen him before, was in the middle of the room. He was groomed, his headfeathers looked brushed and the tuxedo was perfect. In one hand, he held a glass of champagne. Thoughts of Flyer, thoughts of Bill, even thoughts of her friend and mentor, Peppy, were gone for a moment.

Fox had to admit, he was attractive, especially like this. She'd not seen him in a while, since their last harsh fight. If this really was a dream, Fox felt she could let her inhibitions go for just one night, and so she approached him.

"Falco?" Her voice was subtle but firm. Her lashes fluttered, looking up at his strong, masculine face, their gaze meeting and locking. For a moment, the world disappeared behind them. The music in the background grew dim and distant. Everything seemed to fade away.

"Did you change something? I don't remember your gown having that low of a neck cut and," Falco's eyes stopped on McCloud's cleavage, his brows rising. Maybe the makeup specialist gave Fox some fakies or something, he wasn't sure, but it was really realistic.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" McCloud asked.

"My bad, I'm just saying, you're really hot in that get up, no offense. You're getting better with your voice thing, too. We may have just found something you're good at, Foxie," Lombardi said with a chuckle.

"None taken," the vixen said, in response to his comment on her appearance. "What're you doing here?"

"The question is," Falco said, shaking his head with another chuckle. "What are _you_ doing _here_? Shouldn't you be somewhere else?" He reminded, referring to getting the job done. The female Fox, on the other hand, thought he was referring to going separate ways after that stupid fling. They'd hardly spoke since.

"I, I guess you're right," Fox said with a sullen sigh. She leaned up and brushed her muzzle against the side of Falco's head, whispering into his ear, "I'm sorry, Falco." Then she turned and walked back into the crowd. Falco felt that much more awkward, reaching to scratch the backside of his head.

"Uhm, no problem," He called, after her. "Just gotta keep doing what we've been continuing to do, up until now," he reminded, turning back to fake mingling with the crowd.

Meanwhile, over in the gallery, Fox Junior – son of Fox Senior – continued to work with diligence. Once he'd ascertained to the weakness of the protective structure that protected the Spell Stone, he walked along the line of art pieces and made his way into the ball room, looking for Falco. Junior gave a tug at the gown, adjusting important parts of his body, with the way the gown tugged at his frame, to make sure nothing looked…. Lumpy.

The vulpine reached his paws back up, adjusting a few strands of the wig he was wearing, when his eyes suddenly landed on his wingman. Junior approached Falco, ribbing him in the side, upon flyby. "Hey, I scouted the piece. It's here and it's authentic," Fox said.

Falco immediately noticed that the gown, while the same color as before, now had the top covering the collarbone once more. It wasn't cut like it was a few minutes ago. Lombardi reached his fingers out, touching the fabric, looking to see if there was a shawl or a zipper or something. Fox batted his hand away and glowered.

"Geeze, chill." Falco sighed, taking his hand back and putting his other up in a defensive posture. "You had your female voice thing going real good a few minutes ago, don't slip up," He added in a very soft whisper that only Fox Junior could hear.

"Whatever," the boy said, trying his best to speak in a slightly higher pitched voice. "I'm going to see if I can't find out what the guard rotation schedule is. I'll be back in a few minutes," Junior explained.

"How do you plan to do that?" inquired the falcon, his head tilting slightly.

"Dumbass," Fox snapped quietly. "I'm going to ask the guard when he gets off shift, and give him a fake number, you moron. Give me a few minutes, all right? I need to walk around for a minute and get into character, so I don't mess this up. I'll be back in a few," Fox said, shaking his head and disappearing into the crowd. He knew if he messed up, the guard would see through him, not give out the information, and they'd be in trouble.

In the next room, the Female Fox McCloud placed her paw over her heart and shut her eyes. It wasn't since that scrap in Venom, that she'd actually dated Falco. They were an item, sure, but the fling ended and no one was happy after that. The only happiness Fox found in her life was more or less, do-gooding.

She shook her head, those soft tresses bouncing about, partially obscuring her eyes in lush, full bangs. She pushed them aside once more, then turned to head back into the ball room. She wasn't sure if this was a dream, but the fact of the matter was pretty obvious: everything felt real and she had clear, concise, conscious thoughts. There was only one thing left to do. She had to see if it still felt right, so she could put everything to rest in her heart, once and for all.

The vixen reached for her gown, at the chest level, straightening her bust. It was time to be a woman and she was proud of who she was. She marched back into the ball room, and approached Falco, head on. He saw it coming, he saw Fox walking towards him. She reached her paws up, on either side of his beak, then pressed her muzzle against his mouth, kissing him hard.

The raptor froze. His heart stopped and his eyes went wide. He was in complete shock. Fox first tells him that he's going to go practice getting into character, before pretending to hit on the guard to find out what time his shift ends, then the crazy vulpine comes right back and kisses him so hard it made his talons curl.

Lombardi finally unlocked his brain and pushed his palms out, shoving Fox a foot away, his eyes wide as saucers. Fox looked completely embarrassed, almost about to cry. The vixen turned away, humiliated. That was the worst idea she could have ever had. Was she insane? Did she think that kiss would have ended in a ballroom dance? Her chest heaved from the heavy breathing, trying to keep at bay, those tears that threatened to well up, inside her heart.

"What in the world has gotten into you, McCloud?" Lombardi said, suddenly biting his tongue. He remembered the rules, no names, although Fox did whisper his first name to him, just a few minutes ago, so now he was completely confused.

"I'm sorry Falco, it wasn't supposed to happen this way," She said. Her voice was flawless, like a song. It made Lombardi shutter, Fox was a little _too_ good at being a woman, suddenly. At least, in his eyes. The vixen shook her head softly, looking back at him over her shoulder. "Love isn't supposed to be a secret and I never really told you how I felt for you, in words."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up!" Falco said, lifting his hands once more, taking a step back. Either Fox was really getting into the girlie part or Fox was starting to scare the crap out of him. He shook his head, left to right, quickly. "No offence, but I don't date guys," He said quietly, so as not to arouse suspicion from over sensitive ears, elsewhere in the room.

"Hmph," McCloud grunted. She knew she had to pretend being a man to get through the academy, but Falco was being his usual self. He was being completely asinine about the entire situation and it pissed her off. Suddenly someone brushed against her arm in passing. She narrowed her eyes, ready to tear someone apart. She whirled around, her eyes meeting the eyes of another vixen. Both of them simply gawked.

Their jaws dropped and Falco's eyes went wide as well, seeing two Fox McClouds, staring at one another. Other than the slight difference in dress cut, at the neck, and the difference in fabric of their purses, they were identical.

Their eyes were nearly identical. Minus the style of the wig, their hair was the same color and nearly the same length. Their real difference was in the shape of the shape of their hips and the cut of their thighs. The vixen McCloud had a more feminine face, but with the makeup the other McCloud was wearing, it was hard to tell who was who. The female of the two had a slightly more delicate looking muzzle, while the other had a somewhat more muscular looking shoulder build, but the similarity was so strong that they passed for identical twin sisters.

"Who the hell are you?" One McCloud said to the other.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, but something tells me this mission is going to get weirder by the end of the day," Said the other.

"Mind telling me what's going on here?"

"It would be hard to explain right now, but all I can say is that I'm pretty pissed off. If I knew all this was going to happen, I wouldn't have let myself get gussied up in a cheap prom dress and back-killing high heels," The second Fox said.

"What are you babbling about and where the hell am I?"

"On Corneria, at a social meeting. This is going to take a long time to explain, but if you're part of this entire crazy mission, than we need your help and you've got to come with us."

"Give me a break, who are you supposed to be, anyhow?" She asked.

"C'mon, let's go somewhere less public. Bathrooms?" Junior asked.

"As unfond of the bathroom as I am, right now, that might just be a good idea. Let's go," She replied. Both Fox McClouds turned to Falco and, in unison, said, "Stay put, bird brain."

Falco just blinked. As they walked off, side by side, he managed to blurt out, "Hey…! That wasn't very nice!"

Another man approached Falco from behind, adding, "bagged yourself a pair of sisters huh? I bet _your_ life is complicated, right now."

Falco smirked, glancing over his shoulder and replying, "You have no idea, man. This just isn't my night; you have no clue, bro."

* * *

Chapter 9: Awkward

PS: i'm working on all my fic's again, so stay tuned. wee.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Awkward

**Swallowed by apathy; perhaps it was her best way of handling** the situation. This man was telling her that he was Fox McCloud, but dressed up like a woman? She narrowed her gaze, hating to be mocked. "Fine, whatever. So you're Fox McCloud, you think that's funny?"

"No, you don't understand," Junior said with a sigh, "There are now three of us; we're all from a parallel reality. I didn't believe it either, but we've done DNA testing. Apparently you're just a double-X chromosome version," he explained, trying not to get frustrated. "If you let me prove it, I will. But right now, we need your help and tonight's the only night we have to get this granite rune out of this museum."

"And besides roleplaying as me, you're a kleptomaniac?" Snapped the vixen in reply. Fox Junior balked at her terse response, his muzzle parting just a bit. He didn't really think about the possibility of her being insulted because she's a chick and he was dressed like one. His mind had been focused on how important getting that stupid spell stone out of the museum was, at this point.

"Look, I don't want to be dressed like this," Junior said, sternly, "But the fact of the matter is, we've all been brought together because apparently just one Fox McCloud wasn't going to be enough. If you think I'm a thief, fine. But, I am not role playing as Fox McCloud, I don't pretend to be you by dressing up as a woman and maybe, if anything, you're just in shock because I'm telling you that not one, but two Fox McClouds are men. I don't know, maybe you just don't understand the concept of what roleplaying really is."

The vixen gaped. Fox, the feminine one, just swung her left paw. She sought to gain purchase on his muzzle, but with equally sharp piloting reflexes, he snatched her by the wrist, just as her palm touched his jaw. They stood there, their gaze locked upon one another, at a stand off. He could never understand the 'role playing' _she_ was subject to as a child, trying to be the 'son' of James McCloud, just so she could get through the academy. Then, later, finding James alive, involved with F-Zero Racing, it was simply too much to think about right now. She had to role play every little mood at one point, it was an insult for her to be told she _didn't_ understand it.

"Listen, you can either get out of my way," She said, drawing her paw out, across the bathroom, pointing towards the door, "Or I can remove you from it."

Junior narrowed his gaze for a moment. "Where're you going? I doubt you even know where you are, or how you got here? C'mon, explain it," He said in challenge. Junior grinned then added, "You can't. You were somewhere else, one minute, and here the next. Where you found that dress, I have no idea, but you're here now and you're confused. Where're you going to go? All of Papetoon, and there's not one Arwing. Tell me, Fox McCloud, are you going to walk your vixen-tail outside and get yourself lost? Going to split up from the only people who can provide answers?"

The vixen folded her arms across the black dress she'd secured to blend into the situation. "You aren't the only furres capable of communicating. I have other means of finding answers than listening to arrogant dumb-asses just because they look like me, talk like me, but actually have a dick. If it's so important that I be here, and this thing called 'fate' brought me here, then fate'll make sure I am where I need to be when everything happens. So unless you cool -both- your heads, I AM walking out that door to figure this out without ignorant input by cocky 'so-called' versions of me."

Fox Junior was exasperated. He didn't want to dress up as a female in the first place. He wasn't comfortable in this stupid gown. He was on a time line and was told that there's a very real possibility that his way of life would be decimated by some sort of reality loophole. Now he had another Fox McCloud here and she wasn't being as easy to work with as his Mercenary Doppelganger. He was simply frustrated beyond belief.

"What's the last thing you remember before appearing here?" Junior asked, biting his tone back to something more pleasant.

"I was on Fortuna. Now I'm at some black tie event," She said, her gaze still somewhat narrow. "Now if you'll excuse me," She added, heading for the bathroom door. Junior, on the other paw, glanced at his watch and shook his head. There was no time for any of this. He had to act now. Having another Fox McCloud at the same place at the same time would have made things indefinitely easier.

Suddenly, the woman's bathroom door swung open and a male coatimundi stepped in, carrying a portable radio in his left paw and a security badge in his right. "Ladies, I'm going to have to ask you to leave, the party's over."

Junior blinked "Excuse me?" Now what the heck was happening? He didn't need this and this wig was getting unbearable. Everything was turning sour today.

"We had people getting attacked and it had happened in the bathrooms," Explained the gray-furred man. "For your safety, we're evacuating the party, right away. You two sisters have it in your best interest to leave with the rest of the crowd," he explained. Fox junior and the female version exchanged glances at being called 'sisters'.

"Suites me just fine," claimed the vixen, heading for the door. Junior wanted to stop her but now _everything_ was ruined. She passed the security man, who held the door for her, then disappeared into the crowd outside, that was leaving the ship.

Junior clinched his eyes shut for a moment and sighed. He approached the guard, stared right in his face, then smacked him across his muzzle. "That's for not knocking first," He said in a feminine voice and continued out, through the doorway and into the crowd to find Falco. This whole mission was a bust and now he was _really_ pissed off.

"Please tell me you're Junior," came a voice from behind. It was Falco and he'd obviously just had a quick run in with the vixen McCloud, who shut him down with a cold shoulder.

"Yes, dammit," McCloud hissed, waving his paw for Falco to follow. "The mission is a bust, we'll have to raid this ship after it leaves Papetoon. C'mon," He added. The two of them followed the crowd through the security checkpoints and left in silence, same as everyone else.

* * *

**This sure was **Papetoon, all right. The vixen made her way out of the town and headed for home. She remembered the old oak tree, that was a start. Without a ship, she needed to pull a favor or two. There may have been some sort of gap in her memory between the time on Fortuna and now. She just couldn't recall anything more than a fluid transition from then until now.

She did remember one thing, though. An Arwing crashed into the facility and now she was somewhere else. If she really did get teleported elsewhere, maybe it was because the explosion caused some sort of tear in the temporal fabric of... whatever. She was no quantum mechanics engineer, this was pretty weird stuff to think about.

Arriving at the Oak Tree after a two hour walk, she forced the front door open and went down into the subterranean apartment. In her old room, she started looking through stuff that might answer questions or possibly even validate his claim, if not debunk it completely.

She lifted a photograph from the dresser and frowned. There was no memory of that photograph being taken. A very young Fox McCloud, maybe just two or three years old, in a blue blanket, held by Vixy, standing next to James. She tightened her grip on the picture frame, seeing James but there was nothing she could do. Her eyes returned to the baby wrapped in a blue blanket.

She only began the lie of gender when it came time to get into the flight academy. Sure, they accepted women nowadays, but back then, they didn't. That picture should have been a pink blanket, or at the very least, she should have seen that photograph before. It didn't mean the other guy was right, though.

She knelt down over a box on the floor. It had a twin, sitting a few feet away, on the floor of a closet that was wide open. Inside there was a single coat hanger. It was empty. The tag on the hanger rod claimed to be from a woman's dress store, according to the logo and store name.

Her attention returned to the two boxes full of photographs and academy papers. Valedictorian Fox McCloud. One picture portrayed Fox in a sports jersey, making a diving catch for a blurry brown object. There was a lump in the pants, in that picture, where sports protection could be identified. She'd never played sports like that and she surly didn't need to wear a jock strap.

Another photograph was uncovered. In this one, Fox McCloud was standing in a tux, next to some squirrel in a prom gown. McCloud had never seen this girl in her life. In fact, she didn't remember this photograph ever being taken. Another piece of paper was beneath that, lifted and brought into the dim lighting. This next one caused her heart to stop. A certified birth identification card. The date and time were right, the parents were right, but the gender blatantly claimed 'Male' and the personal security number was off by one digit. Hers didn't end in a '2', this one did.

She felt more confused than ever and at the same time, she felt mocked by her past. This was turning into a very bad day. Suddenly, her ears perked up, hearing a noise at the front door. The box of belongings was forgotten and she moved out into the kitchen, staying concealed.

A male fennec, obviously injured, limped into the main hallway, favoring his left arm with his right paw. He had blood matted into his fur and looked like hell. His limp showed that he was favoring his left ankle and when Fox could make out his face, she gaped. It was the rich kid, who's father owned all that stuff. _What in the world was he doing here?_

There she was, standing in a black ballroom gown. Perfect b-cups in perfectly rounded definition. The boy froze, staring at her as if he'd been approached by a Valkyrie, come to sooth his war-weary wounds. His jaw parted slightly, standing other-wise still.

"How did you get in here?" Fox asked, following his eyes then lifting her right paw and snapping in front of her nose, to get his attention guided back to her face.

"The... door was open," The boy said, frowning slightly. "I've been walking in the direction of town for over 3 hours now. I came across this place to rest, it seems as though I've still got a ways to go."

"You look like hell," She mused, returning the favor by looking him over. The poor bastard look battered to Kingdom Come.

"I.. Don't exactly know where I am. This is Fortuna right?" Asked Farrel, stealing a glance to a kitchen chair and slumping into it with a partial sigh of relief. His feet hurt but his ankle was absolutely screaming in pain from walking for the last three hours.

"No. Papetoon. You thought you were on Fortuna?" She asked quietly. It may have just been a coincidence.

Farrel nodded politely from his seated position. "I entered the atmosphere, seeing someone in a dog fight with a Wolfen. Then something went wrong and I remember crashing into some old facility. Next thing I know, I wake up, in my trashed fighter with the wings ripped off, in the middle of a dirt stretch, as far as the eye could see."

"A Wolfen... and an Arwing with A Nightwing Engine?" she asked pensively.

"...Yeah, how did you know?" Farrel replied, looking somewhat surprised. Fox swallowed a lump in her throat, tucking her paw against the fabric of the gown between her thighs and sitting down so that she didn't step on the hem of the fabric.

"I'm Fox McCloud," She told him, looking away for a moment. She didn't want to see his expression. She didn't care about his reaction, she just wanted to get through the introductions because they were the most awkward parts of a conversation anymore.

Farrel knew everything that he'd seen on the news in the past few years. The entire circus event known as the Gender Bender Pilot, the whole death faking situation, all of it. He felt sorry for her but didn't want to show it, so he simply nodded. "Farrel Phoenix. Look, I'll get out of your fur in a moment. I'm just going to head into town and call dispatch to come pick me up."

"I have a feeling they won't be coming," McCloud said, shaking her head. "I'm not so sure things are as they seem. What's your rank?"

Farrel stuck his right paw up beneath his uniform collar, thumbing the lapel upwards. Fox simply nodded in reply at first. She then frowned inwardly and folded her arms, leaning back in the chair she was using. "Then here's an order: You're going to stay put right now. I need to figure some things out and I don't need a spoiled rich boy fucking everything up for me, right now. So, if you can stay put, we'll get along just fine."

Farrel nodded, looking a bit awkward. "I'm not a rich boy. Yeah, my father has cash, but I went through the academy and earned my wings, same as you. Do you mind?"

"Shit, be sensitive about it, then," Fox snapped, shifting her weight. Her tail fluttered in annoyance. At least he didn't challenge her order. If he did, she really could care less, but the fact of the matter was, if this guy was involved in however they got here then she had a whole new list of things to consider.

First of all, there was the possibility that either Wolf was somewhere around here, with them, or he was killed in the blast. Second of all, assembling all the pieces of information might better help her to solve this, so she can get back to her normal life. And finally, she was no squadron leader without a team. If what she'd heard was even remotely true, he was the only current link she had to her home.

He was a good lookin' guy. Probably too attractive for your average man. Rich boy, pretty boy, he was hit with all those things and the sad little fool really wanted to try and prove himself by earning respect and shedding those names. Personally, Fox felt she'd rather have the nick name "pretty boy" and "rich kid" over "freak show" and "gender bender pilot" but both of them didn't have it very easy in the military.

"It's not that I feel sorry for you, but you might be one of the few people that remotely understand my situation," Fox mused, to put him at ease for a moment. He was a great deal easier to talk to than that guy claiming to be her. "So you're an E-4 huh? O-4, myself. So, why did you follow our dogfight?"

"I was given orders to do a patrol after something happened over Fortuna. What about you?" He asked.

"First new mission from Pepper since he got his job back," Fox said, narrowing her eyes to look him over. Was someone sending recon to try and screw her over, or was she just being paranoid? Apparently, the guy knew pretty much nothing except how to fly and how to keep his appearance up, present moment not included. "Your uniform is a disgrace, pilot." She said this, to try and ensure that she remained emotionally detached. If she was going to be a team leader again, then this was going to be a good place to start.

* * *

"**Another Fox McCloud?" Mac's voice was** stern, but his eyes were wide. The Mercenary leader drummed his fingers on the chair arm rest, glancing around the bridge for a moment, before looking back to the assembled skeleton crew. "So we lost the spell stone, this was our best chance to get it, without drawing attention to ourselves," He mused aloud. A bad situation was only growing worse at this point.

"Not only that," Added the Falco Lombardi native to this side of the wormhole, "But she was a real bitch to Fox," he said, speaking of how she treated Junior.

The military vulpine was quick to interject, "No. We don't know her situation. She could come from a world where she'd been tortured as a prisoner of war, for all we know. Let's not jump to conclusions," said the squadron leader, hailing from this Lylat. The Military boy paused then added, "this is a stressful situation for us, who knows what she's come across since landing here, as well. Thing is, now I see a much bigger picture where there is probably a million different dimensions and they are either all messed up and we're screwed or each one is parallel with another and these pairs all have to match, who knows."

"Stop while you're ahead," Falco grumbled. "It's making my head hurt," he said, walking across the bridge. Right now, the team was split for mission functionality. The Mercenary Falco, native to Mac's universe, was flying with both Slippy Toads and Krystal. Fara was here on the GreatFox and Peppy had taken his own doppelganger to meet 'the wife', Annie.

Falco, Krystal and the Toad twins were looking into two spell stones that were supposedly rumored to be sitting in a Venom base on the nearly-hollow MacBeth of this system. Internet leads turned up bragging from one of the Lieutenant Generals in charge of that base, claiming to have some sort of rune collection from all parts of Lylat. It was assumed that at least one of them could be embedded in an asteroid, somewhere in Meteo, still.

Once they found at least one of the stone tablets, Slippy could design some sort of tracker to find the same type of stone elements found in the tablets, so they could do a patrol sweep of the asteroid belt. It would be the only way; checking every asteroid would take decades if not longer.

Fara sighed softly, glancing back to her mate with a soft frown. She'd spent over an hour to help him get 'pretty' for this event and the mission turned into a failure. It was disappointing, to say the least. Disconcerting at best. "We're going to have to break the law, I can see it now." If this was all a huge hoax, she was going to be pissed.

The thing was, that Krazooa thing, whoever it was that Fox and his twin talked to, gave them the ability to get home. If he make things like that happen, she was ready to try and believe him. She was surprised, needless to say. Her only regret was, they didn't have enough time to properly say their farewells to the father of Fara Phoenix back in the other reality. She had to settle for a phone call and she could tell he looked fairly sad about it.

Falco shook his head and finally cut back into the dying conversation again. "I really wonder how that moron knew that setting off a Nova Bomb at a certain frequency of blast power, while passing through the wormhole, would get us here."

"Let's not worry about something we don't have power over," Mac said, starting to pace the deck. "We've gotta figure out how we're going to get that stupid spell stone off of that flying museum, because it's a retired display piece that goes into the paws of a private collector who's identity is unknown."

"How long do we have?" Fara asked, coming to stand besides her mate.

The Mercenary gave a shrug. "I'm not sure; Junior?" Fox's military twin shook his head vigorously. They certainly didn't have long and all the information they could get on the Cornerian Wide Web wasn't helping all that much. They were on the verge of despair at this point.

"I wonder how the rest of the team is making out," Falco said, thoughtfully. Most likely, they were under just as much stress, at this point of time. He could only hope they were slightly more fortunate, right now.

* * *

A/N: _Hey, finally got this up. It's been sitting, unedited for a while. MY BAD!_

_Tell me you love me:)_

_Thanks for reading!_

_-k_


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: _Thanks to Black Friday. Now I have another Toshiba Satellite, although I got one of the lowest-end models to write on. I had to give my mom her Sony Vaio back SOME time. Muwahahaha. It's so plain and normal and not-fancy… a huge plus for my ADD, it's not got a busy, distracting design, lol. So.. uhm. _

_So I can't think of anything for this story… Then I'm sitting there, chillin' like a villain, listening to Blind Guardian's NIGHTFALL. Yeah, they're an epic rock band that does for me what queen's 'night at the opera' used to do for me as a teenager. And they're kicking out the jams like, all the time. It friggin' rules, but anyhow. Then I'm like, "God; I just need DRAMA!" We all know that Drama sells. I'd buy it. Night fall in middle-earth is the album that song is on. They're a pretty pro German Band. They're touring the US next year, from what I've heard. Anyhow. Then, honestly, I put on Linkin Park. Should I duck all the things you guys are about to throw at me? _

_Hey it's generic, it's not distracting, it's plain and rhythmic. I can write to it pretty well. I usually do. I try to find music for that one reason, sometimes. I love The Blood Hound Gang, but their lyrics are usually too funny and therefore distracting for me to write to it. ;) So anyway, yeah. May I suggest you guys download Demons & Wizards: The Immigrant Song. They did a version of Led Zeppelin's infamous tune and from what I understand, Hans, the lead singer of Blind Guardian, does the vocals for it. It rocks. _

_This chapter has been brought to you by the above mentioned and… Megadeth, fear factory, 311, Dynamite Hack, Chevelle, Stabbing westward, our lady peace, Wheatus, tonic, incubus, trapt, eve6, the presidents of the usa, cake, smashing pumpkins, toadies, and daft punk. 90's in your eye! … :Runs away:_

_Yes, I'm hyper. _

_This chapter is dedicated to a particular wuffie, Wulf51. For amusing me and stroking my 'testicularly fortuitous' egowith her dedication, and for saying "you should have them fight" when I already had it planned, then saying, "Don't go with my suggestion, write what you want!" when I was already looking at a way to do exactly that... Thanks! Hope you didn't get my Bird Flu from being in my brain, there. I hope you really enjoy the fight scene. ;)_

_-Kit

* * *

_

Chapter 10: _Where women walk, Drama is sure to follow._

"**I don't think any of us needed this new Drama**," Mac said, turning to face his Military doppelganger. "You know what I mean, Junior?"

The military McCloud shuttered at his hated nickname. It helped identify them and so he let it slide but hated it just the same. "Yeah, Mac. You should have seen her. It was like looking at mom, only more muscular, from… you know, Physical Training. Obviously she is either very fit or military."

"I wonder if she's a dyke," The mercenary wing commander mused aloud.

"Fox!" Junior snapped. He couldn't help but gawk at his other half. "That's beyond crude, man. And we don't even know where she is, now." The leaner of the two vulpine frowned thoughtfully then added, "She does, however, have the attitude of a Mercenary."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mac chuckled. "Don't say that around _my_ Falco. He'd take offense, some how. Actually, he might not. He'd probably just sit there and shrug, half slouched. So where do we go from here? We've got to find out where that ship is going and get the damn Spell Stone."

Fox Junior nodded slowly. He may have been the one now native to the universe they were both in, but having come to trust his other half implicitly, he wanted only to make the Mercenary and his team feel welcome. The femme Fox, however, was a different story. She was an enigma in the equation; she was never mentioned by the Krazoa AI, back in Mac's universe.

"This is all complicated," McCloud Junior muttered disdainfully. "But worst of all, it's all crap. I didn't need this stress." From his seat by the communication terminal on the bridge of GreatFox, he seemed slightly alienated from his other half, as well as where his mate, Fara, was standing. The three of them were here, alone right now, trying to think of how to talk to the other Fox; the newly arrived vixen already proved to be a handful. It was quickly determined that Krystal would be required before continuing.

"Do you really think Krys will be able to help this situation?" Asked the Mercenary.

Fara was the next to speak, telling the boys, "Sometimes a woman feels empathetic or at least trusting, towards another woman in times of stress. With a telepath on the team, we're sure to also find out what she's gone through, what's wrong, and will know how to approach the situation from there."

"Fara's right," Mac agreed before Junior could even reply. "Krystal should be the diplomatic solution to our 'plight', I'll see if I can fill her in on the situation so that when we find this vixen, Krys will be able to address the problem and repair it."

"No disagreement here," McCloud Junior replied, reaching a paw outwards to Fara. Phoenix approached her mate and slid down onto his knees, hooking an arm around his neck. "Fara and I will find her. Papetoon is a world I know fairly well and if she's got any similarities with me in her life, I know where she'd have gone. If she's not there, then we'll get the whole team involved. Have Krystal meet us down there."

Mac, the only Fox McCloud with a thick white tuft of fur between his ears, shook his head. "Actually, let me go with Krystal. You guys can come too, but it'd be less confusing if we went in first. I think she's already upset with you or something. So, you think I should just pull her away from the current mission?" Asked the Mercenary leader. "With both Peppy's on Corneria, my Falco with both Slippy's, out looking for the other Spell Stone, I don't want to short Falco a team mate."

"You sound like you're starting to think a little more military," Junior chuckled with a soft smile.

"Just care about my friends," Mac told them, thoughtfully. "I'll always be that way. I know both Slippy Toads' can make it happen. The problem is, will Falco need a team telepath to better complete the mission?"

"You'd better start by calling them and checking on their status," Junior said, reaching his paws around Fara's waist. "I wonder what a female version of Fox McCloud is really going to be like," The officer wondered aloud. It was a question on all their minds.

"A better question would be," Fara posed, "Do you _really_ want to know? She seemed a little harsh, so far."

"Time will tell all things," replied the mercenary, walking to the communication controls and opening a channel. "The sooner we get Krystal involved, the sooner we tie up one more loose end, which will save us time in the long run."

* * *

**The femme fatale, Fox McCloud**, a young vixen of 27, turned back to Farrel Phoenix, aka the Rich-boi. She tore off a piece of tape in her teeth, handing it over to him, so that he could apply the gauze over his paw. He'd showered and cleaned himself up. Now he was far more appealing but Fox still only saw him as nothing more than eye-candy. 

"We need ships, I hope you can fly as well as you pose," She noted aloud, putting the tape back into a cabinet in the bathroom. "I've been doing some research based on things I've found here and my hypothesis doesn't exactly sound normal but I thought I'd tell you anyway."

"I can handle it," Farrel said, ignoring the pretty-boy commentary. "Let me guess, we went forward in time or something?"

"If only it were that easy," McCloud replied followed by a soft sigh. "We're possibly in the wrong-," she paused. How to tell him they were in the wrong dimension?

"C'mon," Farrel said, narrowing his eyes. "Treat me with respect, I'm not an idiot." Her words made Fox grin. She couldn't exactly disrespect his demand for an equal chance. She wasn't in any situation to pass complete judgment, beyond knowing that he did crash a fighter. "My controls locked up; it's not like I'm a plebe," he said, as if reading her mind. She simply chuckled, shaking her head. What else was there to do, it was an awkward situation.

"We're in some sort of alternative dimension, Phoenix." Fox's words were serious, businesslike and honest to a fault. She did not… _would not_ sugar coat. Even if someone's feelings were at stake. Things were hard for her, she wasn't about to make anyone else's life easier by spouting flowery verbal vomit. "And I need to know I can count on you to not be a pussy," she added in a flat tone.

Farrel felt his heart stop and his chest tighten but he did a good job of offering a poker face. He was offended by her maledictory mouth, but didn't want her to judge him any further, so he casually shrugged it off, trying his best to look casual about the remark. "Me? A pansy? Please, I shouldn't even have to earn your respect; I'm all you've got."

"Not a pansy," Fox corrected. "A pus-," She was cut off by a noise at the other end of the underground oak tree hideout. Her eyes narrowed and she placed a furry fingertip to her lips to signal for quiet. She then moved into the shadows, nearer to the door.

Farrel moved back into the nearest bedroom, peering into the hallway. His ears flickered, hearing someone coming down the ramp into the main hallway. His heart caught once he heard the masculine voice call out.

"I know you're here, McCloud. I followed your trail," Came the voice of Wolf O'Donnell. He'd used his bionic eye patch to track her bio-signs and now he was ready to 'play'. He passed McCloud, then suddenly pivoted on his heel, snatching her out of the shadows and putting her up against the wall with a Cheshire grin.

"Tag, you're it," he said, brushing his nose against her. Fox's heart was pounding now. She couldn't deny that there was something about him, but at the same time, she didn't want to lower herself by giving in. His muzzle brushed against the side of her own, his hot breath pouring across the base of her ear, giving her Goosebumps beneath her fur.

"I don't know where the hell we are or what the hell happened," Wolf continued, "But I do know that it's just us now," He told her, focusing his attention on her scent as his maw grew closer to the Vixen's neck.

"Put me down, O'Donnell," Fox whispered, clearing her throat then saying it again, slightly louder.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," Wolf mused almost thoughtfully. "Hmm, no. Sorry, I'm having too much fun." His jaw parted and his tongue ran up against the side of her throat, causing a shiver to run down her spine.

Farrel watched from the door in the hallway. He was scared to death of someone like Wolf O'Donnell but his sense of logic disappeared once he saw Wolf lowering his head to kiss at her neck. Jealousy coursed through his body and he turned his attention back to the room, searching for something that would give him a plan.

"You've always wanted this, didn't you?" Wolf said. "Tell me it's true and I'll go easy on you, Fox. Although you'll be walking bow-legged no matter how this night ends," he promised with a grin. His paws moved from her shoulders to her collar, pulling her body another inch up the wall, lifting his head once more. No sooner did he place his lips to her own, did Farrel emerge.

A piece of corrugated pipe lanced through the air, catching Wolf in the side of his head. Dropping Fox, who slid down the wall onto her tail, Wolf sprawled back, glanced off the opposite wall and came crashing to the floor. Farrel brandished the pipe again, lifting it in a threatening manner. "Back up off of her, Wolf!" Farrel demanded. Part of him was quaking inside. The other part of him was enraged that he was treating her like a sex object.

"Farrel, you do NOT know what you're getting into," Fox warned from her position on the floor. Before Farrel could respond, Wolf kicked his leg upwards, catching the fennec in his stomach. He was thrown backwards, but didn't drop the pipe. Wolf then sat up, pulling his blaster free and firing off a shot without so much as a thought.

Farrel uttered a gasp when the blaster discharge cut through the pipe just inches above his paw, sizing it down to a worthless piece of metal. Obviously Wolf didn't set his blaster for "Stun". Another inch in either direction would have surely put a hole right through his pretty little head.

Wolf came to his feet, pointing the gun at Farrel in a menacing way. The fennec, much to Fox's dismay, raised his arms over his face to shield himself from the certain lethal gunshot but it didn't happen. He peeked back between his arms only to grow upset when Wolf began a hearty belly laugh.

"You sure know how to pick'em," Wolf said to Fox, speaking of her team mates. She narrowed her eyes and kicked his ankle out beneath him, causing him to fall back to the floor. Farrel stood up quickly, taking the opportunity to change the tide of the fight and suddenly pounced the timber-wolf, raking the remainder of the pipe across his muzzle.

O'Donnell smoothly kicked his leg up, throwing Farrel down the hallway, rolling back to put his weight behind the roll-back throw. Farrel Phoenix slammed into the floor on his back, skidding to a halt with a groan. Wolf hopped back to his feet, stalked over to the fallen fennec, picked him up by the throat and held him up, pinning the back of his neck against the low ceiling.

Wolf chuckled, staring up into the small framed fennec's face. "Did that give you a thrill, pretty boy? Your first fight with a real man? I'm sorry kid, but I don't think Fox McCloud is a lesbian, and you're too much of a pussy for a woman of _her_ caliber!"

Phoenix reached his paws out, taking Wolf's wrist to reduce the pressure against his throat. He tried to score a kick against Wolf's stomach but the lupine's torso was solid as a rock. Wolf's chuckle evolved into plain laughter at the boy's attempt.

"Who says I'm not a lesbian, Wolf? Maybe that's why you can't seem to get into my panties," Fox scolded with a smirk. She was glad that Farrel gave a good try with the pipe but in the end, she was disappointed that he couldn't seem to keep it together under pressure. She didn't need team mates that held her back. Unless he was a better mechanic than Slippy, the kid was worthless.

"Fuck you," Farrel grunted softly, half choked by the paw at his throat. Wolf grinned, reaching his other paw up to the kid's throat, beginning to squeeze. Another moment of this and his neck would be crushed. Farrel couldn't let that happen. His training instincts kicked in and he lifted his paws outwards, then palm-thrusted them inwards, against Wolf's wrists, forcing them in quickly then pulling the lupine's paws away. It was a defense maneuver.

It also worked. Wolf's paws were forced inwards then pulled away, causing Farrel to drop to the floor. Before the fennec could return to his feet, Wolf kicked his leg forward, bowling the smaller fox over like a rag doll. Farrel recovered quickly to Fox's surprise but once again disappointed her when his attempt to sweep Wolf from his feet failed miserably.

The fennec's ankle locked with O'Donnell's but stopped as if he'd kicked a brick wall. It seemed as though the lupine's leg was anchored to the floor and while he'd probably have a bruise from the kick, later on, he surely didn't budge from the attempted sweep. "Ow," Farrel muttered under his breath. It was like trying to kick a tree trunk in attempt to uproot it.

"Do you use steroids or something!" Farrel shouted. "You're not Goliath!"

"No," Wolf chuckled while shaking his head. The timber-wolf picked the boy back up by his throat. "You're not David. You're not even really a man. You're a sex-change candidate aren't you? You've got aspirations for becoming a man but you're just not quite there yet, huh?" Wolf sneered.

Farrel's eyes passed over the studded shoulder pads that Wolf was wearing, then down his chest and finally he shut his eyes and landed a kick square into O'Donnell's crotch. It was a low blow but to his surprise, Wolf didn't seem to be fazed what-so-ever. The fennec bruised his shin and quickly realized that O'Donnell wore more protection than just shoulder pads. Farrel simply groaned, still being held up by his throat.

"Goddammit," Fox groused, kicking off her heeled shoes and standing up. "Do I have to fight for both of us, Richboy?" She snapped, smoothing out the gown with her paw. She raised her paws into a fighting stance, shaking her head. "Goddammit, I should have told you to take a hike when you limped your sorry tail in here." Before she could get another world out, Wolf thrust his other paw out, taking her by the throat as well and putting the vixen's back flat against the wall once more.

"Don't move until I finish with him. After he's dead, we can have a little fun over the poor kid's grave." Wolf grinned then added, "I know you're excited, baby. Just have patience. I'll make you my bitch in a moment, just sit tight. _Business_ before _pleasure_," he assured her, his grin returning.

Without another word, Farrel lowered his head, opened his muzzle and wrapped his fangs around Wolf's wrist, biting down as hard as he could. The adrenaline that coursed through his body was finally taking over and his survival instincts kicked in. Locked in a frenzy, Farrel not only sank his teeth into Wolf's wrist, he reached his paws up and simultaneously forced his index fingers into the pressure points on either side of Wolf's neck, causing the lupine's arms to drop.

Fox fell to the floor once more as well, but this time, she landed on her feet, immediately delivering a combination punch against O'Donnell's gut. Farrel, on the other hand, lost his equilibrium, and toppled over onto his side but was quick to recover now that Wolf's attention was back on Fox.

O'Donnell snatched the vixen by her collar and pulled her back into a kiss, placing a paw upon her chest to cop a feel. Farrel's eyes widened then his gaze immediately narrowed and he lunged at the mercenary pirate with incredible ferocity. His jaw opened, instinctively going for Wolf's throat but O'Donnell was a quick one. He made a fist and shoved it up into Farrel's muzzle, already struggling from the previous bite in his wrist.

"Get off of me, you fairy!" Wolf shouted, keeping his attention on those fangs that were inches from his face. Farrel reached down and snatched the blaster back from Wolf's holster then put the barrel to his enemy's head, flipping the safety off with a loud click. Wolf froze, offering a vacuous grin. "That was pretty slick, kid." It wasn't that he was nervous, afraid or even ready to die. He was honestly impressed.

Fox was recovering from staggering backwards after the kiss and now realized what had just transpired, with Wolf's paw between Farrel's fangs but with Wolf's blaster in the boy's paw, barrel against the lupine's head. Phoenix dislodged his fangs from O'Donnell's paw, then leaned forward to whisper, "She's mine, mother fucker." Harsh words for such a pretty face.

"I think you're wrong, Bishie," Wolf sneered loud enough for Fox to hear. There was another noise coming from further down the hallway. Footfalls of two people. Everyone froze.

Wolf took the opportunity to shove Farrel hard, knocking him back. The lupine dashed off down the hallway, using his bionic implant to find a way out in the back. There was window up near the ceiling at the end of the hall that came out along side the trunk of the oak tree which was rooted through this end of the hideout. He covered his face with his arms, criss-crossing his wrists and leapt through the window, escaping the underground dwelling.

"See ya' soon, Foxy!" He shouted over his shoulder, his voice fading in the distance.

Farrel flopped over onto his back, panting softly. He finally said, "What a jerk." Fox slumped back to her tail, keeping her knees pressed together since she was wearing a gown. At the other end of the hallway, Krystal and the Mercenary Fox McCloud appeared, with Krystal looking rather concerned, sensing the hostilities that just occurred.

"Who the hell are you people?" Fox snorted, looking back to the battered fennec who was laying on the floor. The boy looked overheated, fanning himself for a moment. He tossed O'Donnell's blaster onto the floor after reactivating the safety then rested his right arm across his forehead with a sigh. Fox turned her attention back to Phoenix and added, "Give it a minute. You'll get sick to your stomach but it'll pass, just relax."

"I'm Krystal, this is Fox," Said the azure furred vixen, motioning to a masculine version of Fox McCloud with a gesture of her paw. "I understand you two are a little lost?"

The vixen turned her head away from Krystal and the supposed male McCloud and huffed, "Whatever."

"Indeed," Krystal mused with a soft frown. She sensed such incredible past pain from this feminine version of Fox McCloud. She didn't know what else to say, so with a shake of her head, she continued. "I'll be blunt, since you seem the type to prefer that. We're here to help, Miss McCloud and… Mister Phoenix."

"How do you know our names?" Farrel inquired, sitting up as the sensation of the post-adrenaline effects finally concluded.

"That's a long story," Krystal noted pleasantly. "If given the chance, I'd like to earn a few moments of your time to explain it all."

* * *

**Falco, the mercenary rebel pilot of the StarFox Mercenary Squadron**, pulled up the communication patch again. "Listen guys," He told them both, "Now that Krystal left to help Fox… well… both of them, we've got to change our game plan. Remember, I'm the damage plan; if you guys don't crack and hack into this ship's security systems, I'll blow a hole in the thing. So what's the plan now?" 

The military Toad spoke up first, telling them, "I'm going to pipe into the computer systems of the ship while it's in dock. I'll have my 'brother', here, set up the demolitions outside of the display case, now that it's under metallic security bars. I'll shut off the energy beams that surround it and you just create a diversion so we can get out of there with no trouble."

"I can handle that," Falco chuckled softly. "Now that we don't have Krystal to tell us where the guards are and if they're asleep or paying attention, I'll make sure to have them all up on the top deck."

"How do you plan to get the bridge empty?" Asked the higher-pitched mercenary Slippy.

"Well, Slip," Falco chuckled softly, "I'll take the maintenance duct to the bridge, kick it out, shoot a bunch of holes in random, unimportant stuff, take a body shield, drag them down to the elevator, knock'em out, climb out of the elevator and jump floors. Then I'll blow something up so they'll all try to come to where I am. If I have them on the top floor, they'll try to surround me."

"Sounds g-g-great! But," The military Slippy Toad stuttered, trailing off, in his deeper croaking voice.

"But?" Interjected Lombardi.

"But," Repeated the Slippy who was from this particular version of Lylat. "If you're surrounded, how're you p-p-planning to escape when we're finished with the mission?"

"Leave that to me," Falco said. "It'd be easier to have the other Falco here, we could have me dive into a heating duct and have him run by screaming and shouting down the hall and we could confuse'em."

"This isn't a cartoon, Falco," Scolded the Mercenary Toad from Falco's own Squadron. Falco nodded in agreement then shrugged. After a pause he just smiled. "All right," Slippy continued, "My brother and I are going to trust you. Just don't get yourself arrested or shot. It's going to be hard to explain what you did to the rest of the team."

"No," Falco said, shaking his head, "I plan to get arrested."

"What?" Both Slippy's cried in unison.

"It clears you guys of blame and when they go to fingerprint me, it will clear the other Falco Lombardi as a suspect. I'll give'em some bogus name. They'll have a set of prints that won't match the Falco Lombardi that's from this universe, and you guys come get me; since unregistered people probably aren't eligible for Bail."

"And if that f-f-fails?" stammered the Toad from Junior's team.

Lombardi gave a sort of cheesy smirk. "I'll tell'em I'm Falco Lombardi's clone from Venom and they'll banish me in a tube and you guys come pick me up?"

"One small problem with that," Mused the Mercenary Mechanic. "There's a hearing, first. Following that, you get the right to appeal. Then the jury has to say your sentence. Who knows what it will really be. They might want tests done and have you destroyed as a 'clone'. Your rights will be voted on. That goes two ways. If you're a valid person, you might just sit in jail for committing a trespassing crime. Or you might be held as a war criminal since you're claiming to be from Venom." Slippy paused, took a long breath, then continued in his annoyingly soprano voice, "Or it could backfire; you would have no rights as a clone, then wind up in a lab for testing and ultimate destruction as an assumably soulless clone. So, let's think of something better than that."

"Guys," Falco chuckled, "None of that will happen. You guys get back in your ships, attack it with low-power blasters. I'll expect it, they won't. They'll be surprised and I'll make a break for it while they're still dazed and confused. So," Falco told them, suddenly changing the subject. "You guys _ready_ to break into a high security space-faring museum and collect on a priceless Lylat artifact with a power that they can't possibly grasp… or _what_?"

* * *

A/N: _I hate getting new word processors. This is word2003, which is as good as the 2002 version I was using, if not better… but damn… I have to re-enter all the names, objects, locations and made up words into the spelling thingy, all over again! Anyhow… DIDJA LIKE IT! Yes, I had to add 'didja' too. Lame. _

_-Kit_


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: _I guess I do update too slowly. I've been writing a chapter or two a night on several other stories in an attempt to get them done while I've been struggling to come up with inspiration for some of my others….aaaaanyway, I'm going to see if I can't get some of Chapter 11 done, here………… _

_Okay, now that I've finished Chapter 11 and it's 20 pages long, all I can say is that I've set up arguments and focus groups. I've taken the overly-insulted Farrel Phoenix and started showing sides and shades of characters. Fara and Farrel are in strong agreement and very protective of one another, while the three Fox McClouds continue to learn how to attempt agreements with one another. Fara and Krystal aren't bitches to one another, but they snap at each other in disagreement at one point while learning how to get along in the field again. This is the beginning of future complications. We've got the Mercenary Falco andboth Slippy's out in the field, who we're going to learn about soon… we've got the rest of the characters splitting up and we've got the female Fox McCloud learning that she can be too judgemental and feels awkward about it. But this is just 20 pages of me setting up future drama. The polished double groups looked mature enough to hold it together but with the addition of a new trio of characters, the center of their circle is starting to look a little rough around the edges… The question is, how bad will the drama get, or will it heal itself if they can just manage to capture these Spell Stones? Is the drama starting because morale is down from a poor success rate? Let's find out in the next few weeks of this story, shall we?_

_BTW, I'm 11 pages into the new installment of Reflections of Peppy. Just so yaw'll know. :D_

_I'm really deep into a Sly Cooper ("Lament Of Carmelita") as well. I'm one chapter away from finishing Reflections Of The Future (I'm 8 pages into THAT chapter, as well. Just waiting for devine inspiration on how to end with a kickass climatic scene :) )_

_Remember, Mac is short for McCloud, which is what they're calling the Mercenary version of Fox McCloud. Junior, as they nicknamed him in the Nintendo Power 1993 Comic series, is the military Fox who was reinstated as a pilot after defeating Andross, dating Fara Phoenix… and now we have the addition of Miss Fox McCloud, who's had a harder life… there are things in her life that have not yet been (and may not be) revealed in full definition yet. It all depends on the muse for Female Fox. :)_

_I got a little dragon-ball-Z near the end and I drag out a fight scene for several pages, lol. They drag out their fight scenes for several episodes sometimes… like I said… I forced myself to write this.. lol. It's not that I've lost interest in the story… I was just waiting for devine inspiration to kick out like, 2 or 3 chapters of it….. and yes, I might change the whole chapter, later. I've done it before, muwahahahahaha ahem. Back to work. Btw, that reminds me, I wrote this at work….. so between answering the phone and answering customers every 2 seconds… so if the thoughts are slightly disjointed…well.. it'll resemble the beginning of the story, which I wrote when I worked, at another location LOL. I want to re-read this story before posting it but It's so damn busy today. And I wanna get it posted before you guys grow irate and begin a stampeede riot thing. Hehe. Later!_

_Sorry it took so long to write this. I forced myself to write it when I wasn't in the mood, so I hope it doesn't suck…let me know if it does… be honest :D

* * *

_

Chapter 11: "Tense Additions"

**Krystal frowned thoughtfully**, trying to ease thread through the broken flesh above Farrel's ear. She was a natural healer and was better suited to do this than the other three, at this point. "Don't move," She whispered calmly. She pulled the needle upwards, then picked up a small pair of old scissors and cut the thread. "All right," She mused thoughtfully, "The cut behind your ear is good to go, just be careful next time you put a fighter helmet on, that you don't tear the stitching," she added as a word of advice.

Farrel nodded his head slowly, his lower lip quivering for a moment. The fennec took a long, deep breath and glanced over at the orange-furred vixen, who sat at a dusty kitchen table, facing away from the rest of the group. Krystal noticed this as well and turned her gaze towards the female pilot.

Mac was leaning against the wall, tail swishing left to right. He'd taken a few minutes to explore the place earlier, wondering what it must have been like to live here for over a year and now he reflected on his thoughts. The effeminate Fennec stood up from his chair and walked over to the kitchen table, sitting down in another chair, next to the woman for whom he had eyes.

"What is it, kiddo?" She asked. Her full orange tail, however softer than Mac and Junior's own, flitted in annoyance.

"I don't want you to think I let you down," Farrel mused.

"You had _his_ gun in his face. I was honestly impressed, okay?" Fox said in her softest voice. She then glanced back at Mac and Krystal for a moment before her gaze returned to Farrel. "Phoenix right? So what did you whisper to Wolf that he said you were wrong about? Whatever it was, you should have seen the look on his face when you said it."

"It was nothing," Farrel said. "Just something I said to try and get under his skin. It didn't work. How're you feeling?"

"I could really go for some mouthwash, else I've never been better," Said the Vixen with a slight smirk. "No worries, no General Jumper, no bullshit military contract that can't be rescinded. No honorable or dishonorable discharge threats; I'm having the time of my life, kid."

"Who's Jumper?" Mac asked, still leaning against the wall.

"Jumper is the Ex-Cornerian General with whom I have a personal grudge," She noted, glancing over her shoulder at the other two before looking back to Farrel and offering a lopsided grin. "Pepper was able to re-invoke my piloting license. This was my first fresh mission and lord knows, I'm Missing-In-Action back there, now."

"We both are," Farrel said, shaking his head. "Our fighters…. Or rather, what's left of yours and Wolf's fighter, were last recorded at that facility on Fortuna. Whether the blast wiped out the black box recordings, who knows but the question is what information was recorded to the Cornerian database or Venom database? They probably think we're dead. Someone is planning your funeral _right now_."

"Amusing thought," Replied the female McCloud. "Since I faked my death once already and it came back to bite me in my tail. Maybe, with Luck's Paw, we'll get back in time to figure things out."

"Getting back is going to be a bit more difficult for you," noted the Mercenary leader, shaking his head slowly. "We've figured out a certain frequency to get back and forth between my home and Junior's universe, by using the black hole. How did you guys get here, without a ship or anything else?"

"There was a blast at an old Nuclear Facility. We're supposed to be dead right now," the vixen Fox said, with a sigh. She shook her head again slowly, "Maybe we are, and this is some sort of hell."

"You were being sarcastic about having the time of your life?" Farrel asked.

"You're quick," Replied the vituperative vixen, taking a quick glance at Krystal with a sort of light smile. Krystal turned her gaze back at her mate, having sensed the other woman's quick thoughts, which made her feel slightly uncomfortable. "It's good to know that my alleged male half can hook up with a fine looking woman like her, huh?" She said to Farrel, who glanced over his shoulder at Krystal, who seemed flush in the face, then glanced back to the vixen who sat adjacent to him.

"She looks uncomfortable about something," Farrel whispered in reply.

"She's straight," replied the vixen with a smirk. "I don't expect her to feel comfortable the way I'm looking at her."

"Don't expect me to feel comfortable entertaining the thoughts you're having, either, Miss McCloud," Krystal said, offering a shallow, yet polite smile.

"Really now," Replied the feminine Fox with a sudden change in demeanor. She paused and thought to herself, "_You're telepathic, or you're in my head on purpose or?_"

Krystal frowned thoughtfully, immediately seeing that the other woman seemed to be bothered by the fact that she was in the presence of a telepath. "Yes, I can hear you. No, I'm not trying to hear you. Often times, it's a jumble of voices that I've learned to filter, so I can understand certain ones. I don't mean for it to make you uncomfortable."

"Now that's interesting. Know that I trust you guys even less, now," She snapped, raking her eyes over Krystal. Just to see how the little blue-furred vixen would react, she imagined something lewd to cause the younger vixen to blush, in spite of her telepathic abilities. "Now please understand," continued Miss McCloud, "That I've been though a very interesting upbringing. Call it confusion or call it meant to be, I don't know. But looking isn't touching; I have enough sense of honor not to seduce the mate of another. What are you people doing here, anyhow?"

The mercenary McCloud was quick to reply to his doppelganger's inquiry. "We've searched you out and started here at the advice of Fox Junior, who's indigenous to this universe," he explained. "I'm not sure what kind of history hardships that you've lived through but I have a team to run here. I won't let anyone, not even my own self, go about making my squadron members feel slighted or awkward. We're here to help; it's up to you to accept that. But it's damn sure not up to me to force you to be on this team."

"What do I get out of the deal if I agree to work with you guys?" She asked her masculine Mercenary half.

Fox McCloud, son of James, tilted his head. He wanted to tell her that he only wanted pilots who had a sense of honor and the motivation to help others on his team. The thought alone caused Krystal to wince but he never said it. He finally settled on, "The choice of going home. Right now, it's not an option for you. We have a team of scientists on both sides, working to figure out this black hole incident. They'll factor you into the equation and you can go home if you have the desire to do so."

"As skeptical as I am," replied McCloud's feminine version, "And as curious as I am if we'll all wind up in different dimensions when we go home… and as much as I wonder if we're ending up in a slightly alternative version of this other Fox McCloud's world, and he's somewhere else, so this guy is filling in the gap for another McCloud and everyone's simply moving to the right in a huge circle… I'll allow for the DNA testing for you guys to prove your point. Then I'll sleep on my decision because I'm not going to place Mister Phoenix into danger, let alone Wolf O'Donnell from my universe, because he doesn't belong here, either.

"What I do here, with or without you guys, will have a profound impact on all three of us. Even though I could give a rat's ass about Wolf, I've heard enough theoretical paradox scenarios to know that I'm better off making sure he goes home with me, if it even happens that way."

"Fair enough," the Mercenary leader said with a nod of his head. The two vulpine pilots approached one another, male and female Fox McCloud, and shook paws each offering a slight nod. Her reply mimicked his in a polite tone. Her eyebrows lifted to accentuate her repeated phrase and the handshake ended.

"So when do we meet the rest of your team? You know," Farrel said, trying not to sound too excited about it, so that the vixen sitting besides him didn't give him 'the look'. "When do we get the chance to interview these people and see if they're … you know, worth our time?"

Krystal approached him, placing a paw gently on his shoulder. She could tell immediately that it put the fennec at ease, even if he was trying to act a certain way to make the female McCloud happier.

"Now if you'd like. Before mister O'Donnell returns. We can do the blood DNA test for Miss McCloud here," She explained, continuing, "Match her up to both Fox's we have here now, then we can test you against Miss Fara Phoenix."

"Miss…? Fara Phoenix?" Farrel's eyes widened. "I have another version of myself here, too?"

"Yes, you're doppelganger is mated to Fox Junior, native to this dimension," Krystal explained with a firm nod. "In fact, they're engaged." She could feel a measure of joy and placation emanating from the boyish faced fennec.

"That makes sense," Replied the vixen McCloud, offering a sly grin before adding, "You're too pretty to have another masculine half. Although I would have been entertained by finding out that you have a macho twin, here."

Farrel frowned, turning to Miss McCloud. He tilted his head then finally said, "Maybe I do in one of the many alternative dimensions out there?"

"We don't know how many dimensions are involved," Krystal explained to the two of them. "But we've been told by a Saurian Krazoa A.I. bot, that there are only a few and the fact that Alpha and Beta do not match will cause a lot of problems, right now. We don't know if we can trust him but he did offer the ability to get us here with no harm, so we've decided to try and trust him up to this point."

"That's awkward," mused the other vixen, going on to explain, "The fact you have no idea if this guy has an ulterior motive and no one can sense otherwise. I can see the benefit of having a Telepath on the team but following the advice of a computer program could be dangerous. Everyone has a personal gain motive. Especially robots or computer programs that have the ability to freely think for themselves and write their own parameters based on experience. What does he want?"

This time her doppelganger, Mister Fox McCloud, stepped into the conversation. "Four spell stones. We're busting our tails to get them and bring them back."

"Sounds fishy. Call it a woman's intuition but I'd be questioning it, just like I question you guys," Replied the Mercenary's other half. The vixen folded her arms then nodded down the hallway. "All right, take us back to your group. I want to get this done and over with; let's roll."

* * *

"**The test results are** a positive ID match, as you can see, here," Replied Rob in his casual monotone voice, continuing with, "There are chromosome differences, as you can see this one is an XY match, this one is an X-X Match, Mister Phoenix."

Farrel's eyes shifted, gazing up at Fara in silence. It was incredible and fantastic. She understood him and his plight of sometimes feeling like people thought of him as a rich person who didn't deserve a shot. She was far more decorated and far more advanced as a pilot from being given chances in life that he'd never received but all in all, they immediately felt like they could connect and understand one another.

"I feel like I've just gained… a sister or something," Farrel told her, placing his palm against her face. Their similarities were striking, especially since Fara kept extremely short head fur. The feminine Fox McCloud rested against the medical ward's far left wall smirking.

"Personally, I'd rather see you as a chick than as a guy, Farrel," She said with a chuckle. The military brat approached Fara and pretended to leer at her just to see how Fara would react then tilted her head when the feminine fennec showed no sign of being bothered. "Well?" Fox asked.

"Miss McCloud," Fara said, reaching out to pat the woman's cheek, "It won't get to me the way it got to Krystal. Fox Junior and I almost came out ourselves but in the end, decided you and Farrel might have better luck talking to Krystal because she'd be more sensitive as far as being telepathic. But if I was a guy, I'd probably date you."

The way Fara worded her statement caused Fox to smirk, turning back to Farrel. "All right, kiddo. I've had my fun. I'm not going to sit here and embarrass us; I just like to know what kind of people I'm dealing with before I try to work with them. I go through different phases in how I go about learning who I'm forced to work with. I think it's time to talk to the rest of the group. C'mon, let's go to the bridge, guys."

She gave a half-hesitant nod to Rob64, not used to the machine, in this state, then headed out into the hallway. Fara and Farrel fell into step behind her, having a quiet conversation. Fox didn't exactly feel slighted that Farrel was so interested in his doppelganger, but it was certainly awkward that the boy was getting along so very well with his other half and she couldn't seem to get along with either male McCloud.

The trio stepped onto the bridge and Fox folded her paws behind her back, stalking up to Krystal and both Junior and Mac. "All right, your robot let me operate the DNA testing and being that I'm in pharmacy, I knew I was doing everything I could do to ensure that the procedure was not being faked. So, I'm satisfied for now; let's continue."

"Great," Mac said, looking over the military vixen before glancing back to Junior with a slow, subtle nod. "We've got a lot of work ahead of us. It looks like Falco and both Slippy Toads have found their target and are currently working to obtain this artifact. Falco gave me an interesting proposition that will keep the Falco from this universe from getting into trouble later but so far no one has agreed with his method. Furthermore? Junior, being the Military Office that he is, here, has decided to write up a military-style report on the incident, so I'm going to give it to you, Miss McCloud, so that you can be up to speed on everything."

The vixen glanced back at Fara and Krystal then stepped forward and snatched the report file from atop of a computer terminal nearby. She retreated to a quieter corner to read up on what's happened thus far.

Farrel placed a paw halfway into the air, to be recognized, then stepped into the middle of the bridge, asking, "What about Wolf O'Donnell from our world? It seems like he's out there with the ability to get into trouble. I was thinking we should find him, incapacitate him, put him in a brig or something, then we'll have one less worry on our paws."

Silence. Farrel swallowed then continued, "Just a suggestion. Someone mentioned something about a paradox earlier. Putting him behind laser bars is far more favorable than for him to run around out there."

"Actually," Replied the Mercenary McCloud with a grin. "The A.I. Krazoa Bot demanded that we not bring Wolf O'Donnell. Just to throw a wrench into things, incase this guy has some sort of exacting plan, I think we should catch Wolf and force him to fly with us."

"What!" Farrel exclaimed. "Are you serious? This guy is nothing but trouble; you can't trust him around women because he doesn't respect them or know how to treat them; You're asking for more trouble than it's worth, Mister McCloud, both of you have to trust me. Tell them Fox," He said to the McCloud indigenous from his own world.

"If this guy demanded to leave Wolf out of the equation, it's for one of two reasons," She said absentmindedly while reading through the report. "Either he personally knows Wolf and feels that Wolf would compromise our success rating, which is highly unlikely because he probably doesn't know Wolf… or because he wants to account for a certain number with a certain amount of traits to guarantee success in his own eyes. For that reason, I say we recruit Wolf, even though the lupine is a bastard slob at times. Besides, if we can get him to work with us, he's a decent pilot. He won't crash his fighter into abandoned facilities bigger than this ship."

Farrel shut his mouth, glancing away in shame. Krystal shook her head, taking up for the boy-faced fennec. "Farrel, from what I understand, was forced to land his fighter without any electronic systems… his engines stalled out and his controls locked up. He was lucky and quite skilled to have survived." Farrel offered a smile at Krystal's defensive reply.

"He's a young, inexperienced liability who was lucky two times… first in surviving the crash and second in getting Wolf's gun into his paw and against Wolf's head. I don't like O'Donnell either, but he's a reliable pilot and a fresh variable in this Krazoa guy's equation, to keep him from trying to sabotage our work in his favor."

"I suppose I can buy into that," replied Mac with a slow roll of his shoulders. Junior mirrored the shrug and offered a nod.

"Well it looks like both of my twin's agree," Said the daintier McCloud, turning to Krystal and Fara. "Ladies? Where are we in agreement here?"

"Well," Krystal said with a thoughtful frown. "He's in the same boat as us; it would be against what kind of people we are, to exclude him. He at least deserves one solid chance."

"I have to agree," Fara said shaking her head and offering an apologetic frown to Farrel.

The military Falco Lombardi stepped onto the bridge, glancing over the three Fox McClouds', the two versions of Fara Phoenix and finally, he offered a nod to Krystal. "I don't know Wolf O'Donnell, so I say we try this slob. If he sucks, we'll throw'em in the brig where he can't cause trouble. The question is: who's part of the search party to find this Einstein?"

"He'll come to me, if I make my location known," Replied Miss McCloud. She reached into her pocket and pulled her sunshades out, covering her eyes with them. "We've got to get down to business and this is the quickest way to achieve that objective. Who's going with me?"

"I will, you need protection," Farrel said, looking resolved. Fox replied to him with a girlish giggle, glancing to her two counterparts with a shrug. Farrel looked humiliated, narrowing his eyes.

"There's an important mission ahead for the boys," Krystal noted. "Let the girls handle O'Donnell. I hear he's hot-blooded but I doubt he can handle three vixens. Let get Falco, Junior and Mac into fighters. We've got to get back on schedule with finding the other spell stones. Don't worry, Farrel, it might just take three women to humble this guy."

"Are you sure, I really want to have the chance to show Miss Fox that I'm worth her time as a team member," Farrel protested, placing his paws upon his hips.

Fara approached her counterpart, placed her lips against his ear and whispered to the other fennec. "I have a surprise in store for Mister O'Donnell; I'll get him back for insulting you. Don't worry; we'll embarrass him for you. Your best bet is to go with Mac, Junior and Falco, do a great job; you'll learn a lot from them and they'll treat you better than _your_ Fox. Afterwards, they can sing your praises and maybe we'll help Miss McCloud learn to respect you, hmm?"

Farrel offered a casual sort of grin. "I suppose it's only normal to like the way you think. You should be a saleswoman. As much as I'd like to never see Wolf O'Donnell again, I'd blame myself if he hurt you three or did anything to you guys and I wasn't there to stop him."

"Don't worry," Fara replied in soft whisper, "We can handle ourselves. I go packing, so does Krystal from what I understand. Something about learning to use a blaster against an enemy I've never heard of: The Aparoids, but anyhow. Just have faith, sweetheart." To her words, Farrel nodded in compliance.

"Are you girls completely sure about this," Mac asked the group. "It sounds silly doing a squad of girls and a squad of boys. Is there a certain reason I've missed why you want us to fly this particular mission?"

"Fox," Exclaimed Junior, turning to his other half with a frown. "I wrote up these military-style reports for _everyone_ to read."

"Then just tell me what it said," Replied Mac, tilting his head at the broader shouldered vulpine.

"We're going to try and secure two of the spell stones. One is held by a private collector similar to what Falco and both Toads' are trying to do," Junior explained, trying not to look insulted that the mercenary version of himself was slightly lazy when it came to paperwork. "The other, which is in surprising proximity, is held at an ancient chantry of Monks. Females aren't permitted in this Monastery. Keep on top of the program, Mac."

"All right, _Junior_, relax man." Mac held his paw out to the feminine version of himself, who pushed the folder of papers into his paw. He flipped it about and glanced through it, skimming each page. "I've not seen things written on paper in ages, dude. What's the occasion?"

The Military McCloud indigenous to this particular universe they were currently in took a long slow breath before beginning his explanation. "I'm not sure how closely this Krazoa computer generated guy is monitoring our progress; I've done things in paper to keep it from being recorded just incase. Slippy explains that self-thinking programs like that do have the ability to access wireless equipment… say, our communications gear, and insert a virus that will record our progress for him. It's not that I'm being paranoid, I'm just saying," Junior paused.

Miss McCloud tilted her head, "When you're under the impression that an entire universe could be at stake, there's no use making dumb mistakes that might compromise our ability to do our jobs, yes?"

"Something like that," Junior mused, adding, "Slippy explained that the Krazoa A.I. had the ability to be corrupted by, or to have learned about the Aparoids when Sauria was invaded," he explained. "It seems to me what stops him from inputting a program in our gear that would turn GreatFox into a satellite transmitter to call the Aparoids in, in this universe, give them instructions and … Never mind, this sounds stupid. I just put stuff on paper. If we fail in our mission, or get locked up while trying to steal one of these spell stones, here, there's no record of how insane this mission is, which is in our benefit. If you don't like it, too bad. It's an order, guys."

"Your universe," Mac chuckled, "Your rules pal. All right, StarFox. Girls, move out. Guys, let's go prep."

The vixen McCloud shook her head slowly. "This is a rag-tag effort, by the Creator. … If he even exists, that is. I knew I shouldn't have helped you idiots out. Let's go, women." She walked in the direction of the double doors at the back of the bridge, hooking a thumb at Krystal and Fara to follow suite. "If you two can respect Fox McCloud as your team leader, hopefully you two can provide me with the same respect. We can agree on that right?"

"Of course," Krystal said, followed by the very same reply from Fara Phoenix.

"And that's why men are worthless," Fox mumbled in reply to her newly adapted team members. "We'll need fighters, let's head to the flight deck." She passed through the main doors with Krystal and Fara in tow. Once they were gone, Farrel glanced back at Falco and the two Fox McClouds', Mac and Junior, then offered a weak smile.

"You actually like that chick?" Mac asked of the masculine version of Phoenix.

"Let's not go there. I feel like it was meant to be, I can't explain it. I didn't ask to fall for her," Farrel replied with a sigh. "I'm trying to show her that I'm worth a damn. Every time I'm around her, I feel like I'm walking with my laces tied together. I'm not the screw-up that she thinks I am."

"Well," Mac chuckled, "We can go about this in two ways. Teams of two: Farrel and I on the first with Falco and Fox Junior on the other team. My Falco is out there with Slippy 'n' Slippy… geeze; this is getting confusing, even for me." He paused then smirked. "All right, Falco and Fox, me and Farrel. We can cover more ground this way."

"Are you sure?" Junior asked, raising his eyebrows slightly. "You really want four teams in four areas, not counting Peppy and his other half, back on Corneria?"

Mac shook his head, putting a paw up. "Just slow down. We need to do this because we're under a time pressure. I don't want anyone slipping up because we don't have enough people to any one team, because lord knows it would slow us down that much more to have to set up a rescue operation. The girls have to find O'Donnell and that's adding enough time consumption as it is. There's a term for this over-load of problems, you know?"

Farrel shut his eyes, shaking his head slowly. "Cognitive Dissonance, Mister McCloud." He gave a shrug then offered a faint smile. "Fox…err… Mac McCloud and I will tackle the private investor. It takes a Mercenary leader to pull off theft with only two people. It would take at least a team of military people, I would know personally, to tackle the same job because there's a man for every job to be pulled off on the heist."

"You've got balls kid," Mac said, patting his shoulder. "I don't know what the chick-Fox isn't seeing in you. Let's go prep." He then turned to the military Fox and Falco, reaching to shake paws with both of them. "Guys, good luck at the monastery. We've got a lot ahead of us. Keep in contact if things get hairy."

Falco nodded to each of them, holding his fist out. Respect knuckles before handshakes. Mac and Farrel closed their paws into fists, connecting their knuckles with Lombardi before heading for the flight deck. The mercenary turned to Farrel as the two walked down the hallway. Mac pulled his wrist computer up and tapped two buttons on it.

"Peppy, this is Fox. How's it going? Did you meet this Annie chick and did you and your other half go before the Cornerian Government to get things squared away?"

It took a moment but the Mercenary Squadron's grandfatherly hare replied, his holographic projection popping up and hovering above Fox's gauntlet. "This is Peppy; They asked for blood and DNA testing to ensure that one of us isn't a simple carbon copy clone. There's a ton of speculation but Pepper, here, is under consideration of granting us a pardon and diplomatic immunity. GreatFox also now has clearance to just sit in Lylat open space, so at least _that_ is taken care of… My doppelganger's wife is a wonderful woman and an intelligent writer. He really lucked out, here. I'm actually busy right now Fox, I'll get back with you when I can. Peppy out!" With that, the communication ended.

"That's Peppy," McCloud chuckled. "Spit out a bunch of words, some advice and make a point or two… then close the radio patch. So, what's your sortie to kill ratio like, Farrel?"

"I've flown 37 missions and now that the war is over, my kill score is kinda low," Phoenix muttered softly.

"Go on," Mac chuckled softly.

"I've only taken down 19 confirmed kills. I'm no mercenary, huh?" The fennec's ears lowered slightly as if he was ashamed of his score.

"It's no big deal, bud," Fox said, patting his shoulder. "I'm not here to be everyone's friend, but I've seen your other half in action and she's pretty darn capable. I'm sure you're just as capable, pal."

"So how are Fara and Krystal getting along, if you don't mind my asking?"

"It's awkward, but they're both trying to show they're mature and responsible. I've not really seen them get into a fight or anything," McCloud noted, thoughtfully as the two headed for the flight deck. "I don't know if you guys have this in your universe or if any other versions of me out there have this luxury, but I have one family member floating around. His mate helped me pick out a diamond for Krystal; I've not given it to her yet."

"I don't recall Miss Fox saying anything about family. She seems pretty withdrawn, being a loner," Farrel mused, softly.

"I left Kit and Snowy back where I came from; things are getting hectic over there," Mac explained, opening the door to the flight deck for Farrel, stepping in behind him. "The thing is, there are random strikes of energy, kinda like lightning but stronger, hitting all the planets except for Sauria. That's why we're bringing the spell stones back to that Lylat. To see if we can protect it the way Sauria is protected, there. In the mean time, Kit and Snowy got stuck back there helping out anyone they could."

"Did they want to come and help?" Farrel asked.

"Of course and I wanted them to be here with me, but I had this strange notion, so we left without them," replied the mercenary. "If I die, that would end the McCloud bloodline there. Kit can keep it going; also, they're keeping an eye on Sauria for me," Fox explained.

"Is there something you're not telling me?" Farrel asked politely.

"You're pretty perceptive, Farrel," Mac noted quietly. "Yeah. They both went Missing-In-Action over Sauria. We knew that time was of the essence, so we had to leave them behind. I'm just biting my tongue and hurrying to finish this whole thing so I can look for them."

"Must be hard on you," Farrel added softly.

"Yeah," Fox muttered in return. "I'd rather not talk about it, to be honest. I don't know _where_ they are, or what they're up to. So anyhow, let's get ready to do this; I've never stolen anything before. Not like this."

* * *

**It didn't take long** for the women to locate Wolf O'Donnell with Fox McCloud leading the trio of vixens. She referred to him as predictable, having stolen a fighter and they were now pursuing him to an abandoned space station above the overly-hollow Planet of Macbeth.

Once the three Arwings landed on the abandoned station, Fox climbed out of the cockpit then turned to her two wing mates. "All right, girls. How do you want to do this; we can split up or we can stick together. We're armed enough that I don't think we'll have to worry about this slob. Just keep your gear set to 'stun'."

"He's on the bridge, watching us right now," Krystal said, shaking her head slowly.

"He doesn't waste any time," Fox muttered, turning to Fara who nodded in agreement. "He won't stay there long. I want to surround him, so that when he tries to bolt, we'll have him surrounded on all sides. If it doesn't work out that way, we'll still be able to chase him from multiple vectors. Let's just get it done. Are you two comfortable with splitting up?"

"It's rarely done," Fara mused thoughtfully. "But I understand that you're used to getting things done on your own, often. I'm a bit leery to try it your way. If it doesn't work, we can always meet up with communicators and try it the other way, right? I'm ready," Phoenix said.

"Good enough for me," Krystal agreed.

"Good. I can see you're both team players and I can respect that," Fox said. "Let's just box him in and cage this animal," She said with a shake of her head. "Move out, girls." Fox headed for a door across the flight deck, glancing back over her shoulder with a grin before slipping through it and disappearing.

"She's pretty out there," Fara said, shaking her head. "I thought she'd offer a plan before dashing off like that."

"Let's not judge her. I sense she's had a life harder than even I can fathom. She's been abused, used, raked over the political, physical and metaphorical coals," Krystal said with a slow shake of her head.

"I don't care," Fara sighed softly. "She's got no right to break up the team. Fox McCloud is a team leader, he has natural leadership skills. What's the point of splitting up the team?"

"It's hard to explain her intentions but her frame of thinking isn't about what's best for us as a team," Krystal explained, "But what's best for catching Wolf O'Donnell from her world. She knows how best to stop him; this is it. She's actually offering trust to us," explained the azure-furred vixen.

"How the heck so?" Fara groused.

"She doesn't trust us yet," Krystal replied with a soft sigh. "She knows _her_ team, but not _us_. By counting on us to pull our weight in this capture, she's extending trust that we'll be able to handle ourselves against Wolf O'Donnell. Splitting up is her ultimate way of displaying this trust; she feels that keeping us together in this situation, would be akin to babysitting."

"We'll talk about this later," Fara said, turning for the door on the left. "There are other ways to be a team, without abandoning your squadron mates. I don't want to argue about this now," She said, shaking her head slowly. The fennec disappeared into the port-side door and was gone. Krystal shook her head with a sigh and headed for the right door. She could sense Fara's unease at this situation and was completely empathetic to both sides but she wasn't the leader and didn't have enough mission experience to argue on the Team Leader's behalf behind the woman's back.

Besides, Krystal was a capable woman, working on her own in the past, before the Dinosaur Planet incident. She disappeared into the starboard wing of the abandoned station, wrinkling her nose at the smell of stale air.

Meanwhile, Fara drew her blaster, adjusting her gear vest. The vest was bulky with pockets for her gear, but it also served as torso protection against medium and long-ranged blaster attacks. The weight of it gave her a semi flat-chested look and with her short hair, she resembled Farrel a great deal.

The left corridor appeared to be a shortcut to the bridge. Once she arrived, the doors to the bridge slid open and just as Krystal said, Wolf was standing at the controls, glancing over his shoulder at the fennec.

"Back for round two, huh pup?" Wolf sneered.

Fara blinked. She paused, realizing that he actually _did_ think she was Farrel. It caused her to grin, flaunting the pistol. To amuse herself, she tried to speak with a slightly lower toned voice. "So, are you ready to help this team or do we have to put you in a brig?"

"Help you?" Wolf chuckled. "Are you kidding me? Goddamn, dude, I'm going to gut your scrawny ass, then force ya to watch me bag your hoe. Ready to play?" Wolf asked, thinking that she was actually Farrel, all along.

"Bring it," Fara said, trying to mimic her doppelganger's voice. Farrel was never part of the after-work women's defense training seminar that was offered for Military women. What's more, Wolf nor Farrel had no idea that Fara was now the class instructor, after years of attending it, herself.

Wolf spun his blaster on his finger, as if to show off, then holstered the weapon quickly, lifting his paws and closing them into fists. "Let's go, faggot."

Fara raised her brows, shoving her weapon into its sheath and pushing the Velcro strap down, to keep it in place. She sauntered out into the middle of the bridge. "Bag my _hoe_?" She chuckled in reply. Wolf still had no idea he was looking at a different fennec. The resemblance was unreal, with Fara wearing the tactical vest over her chest.

"That's right, bitch-boy," Wolf said, thrusting his paw out at her stomach. He knelt down a bit, so that Fara was pushed upwards. She was thrown upwards and back, but landed on one knee, rising back up. "You're even lighter than I remember," Wolf sneered. "Did you loose weight, pansy?"

Fara suddenly turned about, gracefully, executing a roundhouse kick that Wolf ducked. "Who taught you how to walk and spin? A runway model, or did you teach them because you're so gay," Wolf snapped, dropping to the ground to try and catch the fennec off guard with a leg sweep. She leapt over it, kicking her right leg out to catch him in the face. O'Donnell grunted in reply, knocked off balance.

She landed on the balls of her feet, leaning back on her paws, to do a hand-stand style of back flip. Her left foot caught him in his muzzle, and he grunted again. Wolf shook off the second kick to his face, trying another straight set of jabs. The door on the end swished open and Fox McCloud stood in the doorway.

Fara blocked the punches using her left wrist, then crossed her right paw across, landing a punch in his good eye. Wolf growled in anger, throwing a punch at her gut. Fara took the strike, which was partially absorbed by her armored vest, snatching his ears and pulling his face to hers.

She jerked her head forward, bringing her forehead into his muzzle, drawing blood from his snout. He shouted in rage and frustration, giving the fennec a shove. Fara toppled back, only to throw her legs upwards, to kick herself back up, upon her feet. Wolf blinked at her in confusion.

"You don't fight like the dickless little thing I fought earlier," he grumbled, throwing his paws back up, ready once more.

"If I was 'dickless', would it hurt your ego to know you got your ass handed to you?" Fara snickered, drawing her paws back out before herself. Krystal came in through the door behind Wolf, pausing in the doorway, watching.

"Listen, Fox is mine so just stand in line, kid. You can have the sloppy seconds," Wolf said, delivering a kick to her gut that knocked her halfway across the bridge. She somersaulted over a terminal, extending her leg to offer a drop kick across his shoulder that caused him to stumble back.

Wolf leapt forward, throwing a punch that glanced off the side of her cheek. He followed through, snatching her shoulder and forcing her to be spun all the way around, then he wrapped one arm around her neck, whispering into her ear.

"You might be fighting better than earlier, but I'm only warming up, fairy," Wolf chided softly, so that only Fara could hear him. She kicked her leg up, catching him in the nose with the tip of her toe. He dropped back, releasing her neck. The fennec spun around once more, offering a quick roundhouse that landed on the side of his head, then dropped into an immediate sweep that brought him to the floor.

Wolf drew his blaster, firing at a monitor that was welded to the ceiling. The heavy square chunk of metal fell, causing Fara to leap out of the way. He re-holstered his blaster and hopped back up, snatching a chair from behind a computer terminal and flinging it Phoenix.

Fara ducked the chair, hopping over the terminal, to deliver another kick and punch that connected with his face. Wolf winced, but took the double hit combination, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her into the air. He continued to raise her body above his head, then arched his back, forcing Fara over his shoulders, suplex her to the deck.

Fara landed on her shoulder blades, grunting in pain. She rolled over, trying to get to her paws and knees. Wolf spun around and brought his leg up hard, kicking her in the face with all the weight he could get behind the maneuver. She cried out, flopping back onto her back again, bringing her paws to her face. She put up a very impressive fight but it was Fox's turn.

The leader vixen dashed in, putting her foot up on a communications console. She leapt off of it, shifting her weight forward. Instead of pouncing like most foxes, she put her leg out and kicked him in the side of his head, which threw him back against the far wall. Wolf slumped down the wall, crawling back to his feet.

"Got to save your new boyfriend huh?" Wolf sneered, snatching Fox by her throat and forcing her back to the wall he had just been acquainted with.

"Phoenix isn't my boyfriend, retard," Fox snapped, bringing her knee up to Wolf's gut, before crossing her left paw against his face. Wolf was warmed up and quick to throw a triple punch, left, right, left against Fox's gut, before adding a right-handed uppercut. Fox stumbled over Fara's body, causing both of the Vixens to crumble to the deck again.

Before Wolf could turn around, Krystal pounced. She'd already obtained a metal rod and was wielding it much like she did with her staff. She used one end to pull one of Wolf's ankles out from beneath him, before flipping the other end around to hit his chest, to follow through, putting him flat on his back.

He groaned softly, then hopped back up, pulling his blaster. "Three bitches huh?" he grumbled, trying to offer an insult at Farrel, not yet realizing that the fennec in the room was actually Fara. Krystal twirled the staff, swinging it around to knock Wolf's blaster across the room. It skittered across the deck, sliding beneath one of the main control terminals.

He watched through his bionic implant for her next swing which was meant for his face. He lifted his paw and winced, catching the pole in his palm. It would hurt later, but it surly looked tough, now. Holding the staff, he used his other paw, palm out, to strike Krystal in her solar-plexus. The strike knocked the air out of Krystal's lungs, causing her to gasp for air.

Suddenly, there was another strike against the back of Wolf's head. This one hurt more than he was used to feeling. Blood matted the back of his previously-white head-fur. He turned about, narrowing his eyes at Fara. "You again? You dipshit, stay down!"

Fara brought her pistol across his face, the way she'd hit him in the back of the head a moment prior. Wolf cried out in a near frenzy, grasping her by the vest, picking her up and throwing her into Krystal. Both of them were knocked flat to the deck, hard.

"This isn't going like I had expected," McCloud said, having stood up while he'd been busy with the other two, a moment ago. She offered a hard kick to his face, which caused him to stumble backwards, nearly falling over one of the computer stations in the middle of the bridge.

"You've got two choices, O'Donnell. You can join the team and help us get home where we belong, or you can sit in a cell on the ship we're using and make me really pissed off," Fox said in an angry tone.

Wolf snatched Fara by her hair, pulling her into a harsh kiss. She struggled but he was quick enough to force her up against the wall, that she didn't have the equilibrium to reverse his grab. His tongue was forced into her mouth and she paused for a moment before the realization of her moment hit. Her teeth closed down around his tongue, which drew blood.

Suddenly his body was grabbed by the back of his shirt and to his complete surprise, he was lifted a few inches off the ground. Glancing back over his shoulder, scarlet drool running down his muzzle. Fara was literally pulling him off of Fox. She then turned him about, shoving her shoulder into the maneuver, forcing him to the ground hard.

The power slam caught Wolf off balance. Fara snatched his collar and pulled his face up, so that she could speak into his ear. "I could kick your ass without their help. I'll prove if, you thug-ass wannabe-rapist." She then pulled Wolf to his feet. "Girls, hang back, this is between me and him."

"What?" Krystal balked, "Why?" She gasped, struggling to regain her breath.

"This is personal. It's between me and him, Fox I'm sure you understand," Fara mused, turning back to Wolf.

"Phoenix, don't be stupid," Fox said, moving back to her feet, shaking off the dazed feeling. "I'm trying to get him to join the team, primarily."

"I'm not fighting on the same side as this little creepy homo," Wolf said, speaking of the non-present Farrel Phoenix. Fara, regardless, took complete offense to Wolf's insults on her doppelganger.

"Shut your mouth and fight, jerk," Fara said, pulling up her fists again. Wolf spun around, facing her with a narrowed singular gaze. He pulled out a thermal detonator in his paw, mashing in on the timer switch, causing the small round object to flash. He then used it like a rock and struck Fara across her muzzle with it.

She grunted, then kicked her left foot up into his crotch, half-jumping to kick her right foot up into the bottom-side of his jaw. She grabbed the back side of his fist with her left paw, then forced the detonator out with her right paw. She returned the favor, using it like a rock to smash him across the nose, before thumbing the trigger button to deactivate the counter.

The detonator stopped flashing and she tossed it to Fox, using her wrist to block the next attempted punch that Wolf tried to deliver. "Goddammit, ass-rammer, how the hell did you learn to fight in the last few hours!" He shouted. His next attempt was to throw punch after punch that she blocked away with her wrists multiple times before kicking him in the shin. She then spun about, offering another full-forced roundhouse kick to his jaw.

Wolf, ever enduring, stumbled but wasn't out of the fight, by any means. "I see a kick to your crotch didn't do very much," Fara said almost scoldingly.

"I told you already, I'm wearing a cup. What, are you, like, Phoenix's twin or something? C'mon kid, whatcha got?" He put his paws back up and got into a ready stance again.

"Whatever," Fara grunted, throwing another punch across his battered visage. He grasped her arm and slung her across the bridge. She hit one of the computer terminals, completely flipping over it, head over heels. Krystal leapt up and dashed out to bring the fight back to Wolf. She got in two quick jabs before Wolf took her by the throat, much the way General Scales had done, in the past. He then slung her back into Fox McCloud.

"Didn't the fairy boy tell you to two to stay put?" Wolf grumbled.

Fara stood up, slowly. She cut her glare over at Krystal. "Stay down, dammit. I don't need your help, Krystal. I'm here to humble this man on behalf of Farrel."

"But Fara!" Krystal groaned. "What happened to not separating the team!"

"This is personal, just understand that!" Fara exclaimed, turning back to O'Donnell with her fists up. Her body ached but the adrenaline gave her a sort of calm feeling in the middle of the fight. She approached Wolf, ready for another round.

"Farrel … Fara? What, did the pansy send his sister out to fight for him?" Wolf sneered. "I didn't know rich-boi Phoenix had a sister. Are you a virgin, kid?" he said, just to see if the comment would get under her skin. "I suppose it doesn't matter, all I want is Fox."

"Isn't that sweet," Fara muttered, drawing her paws up into fists, ready to bring Wolf down, in any way physically necessary. Wolf turned to Fox and Krystal, shoving them both, as if being a bully. When he turned back to Fara, he had his wrist around Fox's throat and just as quickly, Fox's own blaster against her head. Fara smirked in reply to the action, adding, "I don't have all day, ladies. What's your stupid proposition?"

Fara drew her own blaster, pointing it at Fox's feet. Wolf raised a brow in slight interest. "I beat your tail, then you come back to GreatFox with us, so we can get ourselves out of here; I don't need the headache, I want my regular life back. Ever thought of that?"

"You're going to shoot my hostage in an un-lethal area to bring the fight back to you and me?" Wolf snickered in inquiry.

"Maybe so," Fara chuckled. "What's your answer, jerkoff?"

"I need to think about it," Wolf replied with a slight shrug. "Come back tomorrow." Fara narrowed her eyes at his response then fired her blaster, on medium power. The blast lanced between Fox's feet, hitting Wolf in his left shin, then she flipped the power setting downwards, simultaneous to bringing the blaster up and squeezing off a quick round at the surprised Wolf O'Donnell. It hit him in the shoulder, forcing him to release Fox, who stumbled off to the side, caught by Krystal.

He flopped back against the wall, quickly bringing his blaster up and firing at Fara. The blast slammed into her tactical vest but the force of the full power shot launched her body back, causing her to go crashing down against a computer against the opposite wall. She flopped over, in silence.

Wolf sneered, "You're both pushovers. You and Farrel; you both look so much alike, it's that much easier to see that you're both a waste of brawling time. I think I'm going to cry over how wasted my time was, knowing I'll never get it back. That's how much you bore me, little slut."

Krystal shoved Fox back at Wolf, sensing that the Team Leader was ready to pounce, then she joined, leaping at O'Donnell. The two of them forced him to the ground, attempting to subdue him with a series of punches. He lay there for a moment, taking the scores of strikes then threw both of his arms up, knocking the light weight women back to the floor.

He flipped Fox's pistol to the highest stun setting then got two shots off, hitting Fox in her gut and Krystal in the mid-back. Both of them flopped to the ground, struggling against the sudden loss of their motor skills. O'Donnell stood up, wiping the blood from his muzzle with the back of his paw.

"I remember, once, in the academy," Wolf told them, "You kicked my ass, McCloud. I punched your little buddy, Slippy Toad, in his mouth and you leveled my ass. Now I just took you down along with two of your buddies. You fought harder when you thought you were a man, you little floozy bitch."

Fox parted her muzzle to reply with her own version of an insult but the stun effect made it hard to even breathe, let alone offer witty banter. Wolf approached her, snatching her by the collar of her shirt. "I'm not sure why, but I've got it for ya bad," He said, pulling her body up, level with his own.

His lips brushed against her own then he suddenly paused. His singular gaze went wide. "Dodge this, asshole," Came the soft voice of Fara Phoenix. A blaster discharge was heard and the barrel, point blank against the backside of his head, was fired.

Wolf dropped Fox to the floor then crumbled to his knees, keeling over to the left, motionless. Phoenix tossed the gun on the floor which clattered softly against the metallic deck. She then put one foot on Wolf's muzzle, gazing down at Krystal and Fox. "Maybe that will teach you to shut your fat mouth, lupine." She then glanced back at Krystal and Fox who were struggling to sit up as the stun effect began to wear off. "Let's get him back to the GreatFox brig."

"Perhaps I've misjudged your abilities," Fox coughed softly.

"Farrel and I realized that we are the same person," Fara assured the woman. "I just have a bit more experience but we are reliable, honest and hard working. If you ever split the team up, like that, again… we're going to have words. I don't care who you are."

"Fara, please," Krystal wheezed, rubbing at her throat which still felt tight from the stun effect.

'I'm sure you both think I'm a real jerk right now but that was uncalled for," Fara explained. "We don't need to fight over what's going on in the team and we don't need to separate the team unless it's for the absolute good of the team. He almost killed all three of us because we ran into this with no plan, like a bunch of lucky newbies."

"What would you suggest we do differently in the same situation, next time?" Fox muttered, helped to her feet by the ever-adorable Krystal.

"I would suggest," Fara said, clearing her throat and lightening up in her tone. "That we go to engineering, manually cut power to the doors in the bridge, climb in through the maintenance shaft, drop in from the ceiling and stun him or over power him against the wall and cut our proposal to him that way. Power is all he understands. But running in and trying to surround him was foolish and stupid."

Phoenix paused, shaking her head slowly. "If we were to execute it your way, let's stick together, get radios set up and go in at the same time. We could have used flash-grenades to do it but you just ran off and Krystal defended your decision, saying you had a hard life; you're tougher than that; your hard life is not a psychological handicap unless you allow it to become one."

Fox stared at her in silence for a moment then nodded slowly. Maybe it was because she's the female version of Farrel, someone who was hot but un-respected. Maybe that was why she had misjudged Fara. Maybe it was because she had such a hard time trusting. Fox slowly nodded her head. "I'll give this trusting thing a good try. Just... please offer me your patience and attention. I'll pull through this," She promised in a soft voice, glancing down at Wolf's trembling body. "Let's get him out of here and lock him up; we'll talk to him when he's calmed down."

Fara shook her head with a slow sigh. "I don't mean to snap at the both of you but a good leader makes decisions I can trust. We're a team here."

"Then why tell us to stay back?" Fox mused softly.

Krystal turned to McCloud and told the woman, "She felt it became personal when she engaged Wolf by herself and he insulted Farrel. The way that you and Wolf both treat Farrel offends her. She feels he's a capable young man."

"He trashed a fighter and let Wolf walk all over him," Fox interjected.

"A good leader knows to look for winning qualities in her team members," Fara explained, politely. "He has the drive just not the experience in a self defense class that I'm part of. Furthermore," Said Phoenix, "I am willing to wager he's a capable pilot if he's given the chance to prove himself. He's not been given the same chances in his world that I've gotten in mine because he doesn't have breasts. That's just wrong. If he had more flight hours logged in, he'd be just as good of a pilot as you can imagine, Miss McCloud. We all make mistakes; it's up to you to overlook them and see a person for who they are, not for what they can do for you."

Krystal glanced at Fox and frowned thoughtfully. "She knows it's not an excuse," Krystal said of McCloud, "And that's why she's not mentioning it… but she's in the middle of trying to go through a life-changing state of mind to better herself. We all have to start somewhere."

"Thanks," Fox replied to Krystal, shaking her head, "But I don't need someone defending me. My ability to trust in men or trust in those around me may have been tarnished because I see others having motives for their own needs, but it doesn't mean I'm not in the middle of bettering myself."

Fara came to Fox's side, helping the woman to her feet, with Krystal's aid. "Look, I love Fox McCloud Junior. And in some way, you're a part of who he is. So, I'm forced to love you as well, because you are him in a way. My love for him is unconditional, understand?"

"Yeah," Fox replied.

"We've done nothing to betray you; trust us now, make judgments in your free time," Fara suggested. "Some people only find satisfaction in life by helping others. Don't distrust them just because you've not seen what their personal motivator is, Fox. You've bottled a lot of stuff in your life, sure, but that's no reason to take the jar off and let it poison your heart and mind. Remember… you can only put so much into that metaphorical jar before it breaks and that explosion of toxic hate is unleashed all over your body."

Krystal just gawked at Fara, turning her head to glance back at Fox. The feminine McCloud nodded her head slowly. "Let's get him out of here," She replied to Krystal and Fara. "I'll admit when I've misjudged. C'mon, girls. I don't know what sort of effect Wolf seems to be having on me that I don't put up much of a fight around him… I appreciate what you've done, Fara."

Fara nodded slowly. "Yeah," She mused thoughtfully. "Let's just get this jerk back to the GreatFox."

* * *

A/N: _okay, so. I wrote 20 pages. That should tide you guys over for a while... I think. It's long. Probably my longest chapter, thusfar. i started on it day before yesterday and put a TOTAL of 3 hours into it ... that's including the spell checking BS. I've not actually re-read through it... cause i'm having the biggest brainfart in the world. :D I'll fix it soon if there's huge inconsistancies. f;asldkfj;asdlfjoepaj rafu230984r82309rjsdklfj No huge cliffhanger this time around. yet. There are a lot of characters all over the place to keep track off, that's why i keep re-noting where everyone is, so.. yeah. _

_Is this chapter a drag or did it move well? PLEASE let me know. it'll half tell me if i should have made chapters like this into TWO chapters, in the future. Also, let me know, do you think the girls should quarrel, or do you think they're mature enough to pull it together? Do you think the female Fox is a good character or does her personality irk you... or am I just not describing it well enough? Let me know, please. _


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Of

Similar Paths Taken

Chapter -12- "Turn of Events"

* * *

**Farrel and Fox** "Mac" McCloud sat on a support beam up in the rafters, high above a private museum-looking area. They exchanged glances and Mac shook his head slowly. "This is going to be difficult," he whispered to the male version of Fara, frowning just slightly. "You know if we're caught and arrested… It's going to be difficult to explain to the cops _and_ to the team."

"I can image," Farrel muttered in soft reply. "How can we see where the laser beams are? You know all these fancy places use'em. Any private investor would do the same thing," he concluded aloud in a soft voice.

"Yeah," Fox agreed, tapping his chin slightly. "Maybe we can just blow this place up, grab the spell stone and run…?"

"While it might come down to that," Farrel said, putting a paw to his chin, "I think we can manage to be a little more graceful if we use our brains. No matter how good or how bad this thing goes, we have a _sterling_ escape plan, so I think we'll be fine."

"Yeah, that was pretty clever thinking," Fox agreed. Farrel's escape plan sounded solid. There were barrels stacked up, two stories high, outside of the collector's private warehouse. Farrel suggested using a tractor beam and refractive cloaking technology with an Arwing to move the center section of that stack, place them on the roof, then _land_ inside the donut-like center. Then, when they were fleeing from the scene, they run out the door, board their ships, lift straight up and fly away. No matter what went wrong, they were less than 30 feet from their escape.

Oddly, there were now barrels sitting up on the roof of the warehouse but the two foxes surmised that it wouldn't attract attention until daybreak; by then they'd be long gone. Farrel reached into a gear bag on his hip and pulled out a small white square.

"What's that?" Fox whispered.

"Rosen used by pitchers in the major league. My paws sweat when I'm nervous and… I get nervous around _women_," Farrel replied. "Watch this," he added, giving the little white pouch a shake. White powder fluttered down from above; red and green criss-crossed bars became visible down near the floor. Fox grinned, patting the fennec on his shoulder. "Thanks," Farrel chuckled slightly. "Where is the spell stone kept?"

"There," Mac replied, pointing down at a strange looking object that was stone with a glassy looking, rectangular panel at its center. It rested in a glass dome approximately ten feet from the exit door. Farrel grinned impishly. He'd never stolen anything in his life but he was up to date on why these stones were needed and the fennec wanted to help.

Phoenix rubbed the base of his neck, much the way Fox often did. "Maybe one of us could shoot the dome, the other one could swipe the stone and we could make a break for it?"

"If Krystal was here, I'd ask her to scan the area for guards," Fox chuckled softly. "Anyway, paper-rock-scissors to see who grabs the thing?"

"No," Farrel replied. "I'll… I'll do it. I've never done something like this before and for some reason, I feel compelled to prove myself, more than I feel compelled to be law abiding. Besides, saving the universe takes precedence over abiding the law… for some reason."

"Yeah," Fox agreed, "I can't imagine why saving the world, let alone several words, is more important than preserving the law but for some reason, I don't think this thing belongs here, anyhow. It belongs on a planet that no longer exists in this system."

"Make sure you tell Fox that I kicked ass," Farrel said, referring to the vixen he was so very fond of. McCloud chuckled with a nod then gave him a shove. Phoenix nodded and clutched the rafter bar in his paws, dropping from it. He dangled for a moment then released the bar, landing on a stack of crates, down below. His light weight body allowed for him to land without making hardly any noise.

"So far so good," He whispered so softly that Fox couldn't hear from up above. Farrel shook the Rosen bag again, waiting for the dust to settle. The chalky powder covered his paws but it also covered the floor around the bottom of the crates, allowing for him to see where the alarm lasers were located. The fennec dropped down to the floor and used the Rosen as he crept along, heading towards the Spell Stone's display case.

Without warning, a door at the far end of the warehouse opened and a guard stepped in, stopping to stretch. Neither Phoenix nor McCloud had expected there to be patrolling guards as they'd not seen any up to this point but Farrel now froze, staying low. McCloud, up in the rafters, was the one to be spotted, however. The guard gasped in surprise, snatching the radio off of his belt and called for backup.

"Crap," Fox grumbled. The guard ran in, setting off one of the laser alarms, drawing his gun from a hip holster. Fox dropped from the ceiling and pounced the lupine guard from high above, bringing the man to the ground, hard. Farrel ran over to the display case for the spell stone and pulled out his own blaster, trying to shoot a hole into the glass case. However, it was designed to take the brute force and withstood the assault. Farrel, trying not to grow frustrated, pulled out a wad of explosives and applied it to the glass casing.

Fox was busy brawling with the guard, keeping the man busy. Farrel Phoenix backed away from the display case and cranked the detonator but it only cracked the case, very slightly. The fennec was now growing somewhat anxious, looking about for something he could use. Despite logic, his eyes landed on a spiked mace on the nearby wall. It was part of an ancient history display and his frustrations subconsciously made the weapon a desirable tool to obtain. Dashing over to the wall, Phoenix snatched it off the hook and grunted at its sheer weight.

He hefted the archaic weapon over his shoulder and reproached the cracked display case. He was out of explosives; the likes of which were meant to take a door off its hinges, not destroy a display case designed to stop small arms projectiles… This was his last resort, for sure. He took the handle in both paws and let his mind drift back to his fight with Wolf O'Donnell. The pace of his heart quickened and his body tensed in anger at the memory. He clinched his eyes shut and locked his jaw, picturing O'Donnell's face.

Planting his heels in the ground, Farrel put all of his weight on his right foot, with his left one staying firm to the floor. The fennec spun hard, the way a right-handed batter would swing for the fences until a satisfying connection was made between the spiked mace and the cracked glass case. Rather than decimating the case, the entire dome was knocked free of the base, landing on the ground with a thud. The weight of the mace carried him beyond the follow-through swing until he had no choice but to pivot awkwardly on his left heel.

The mace connected with the floor, leaving a gash in the tiles. When his eyes flickered open once more, he was doubled over, arms extended, with the mace on the ground. His tail was drooped straight to the ground, his ears were laid back, nearly flat upon the top of his head, and he was panting softly. Suddenly, Fox McCloud's voice rang out in the room. "A little help, kid!" Cried Mac, urgency dripping from his tone.

"Damn!" Farrel gasped, sucking breath back into his lungs. He then lifted the mace again and charged the guard that Fox was brawling with. Fox glanced over, seeing the charging todd with a spiked melee weapon and his eyes widened. The guard snatched McCloud by the neck and lifted him off the floor but Fox knew that Farrel wouldn't have any control with the mace.

"Holy crap," Fox grunted, placing his feet against the wolf's chest. He bent his knees then kicked his legs outwards, prying his body from the guard's paw. Fox went flying and landed unceremoniously upon his backside, just as Farrel approached the guard, swinging the mace with clumsy abandon. The timber wolf was clobbered across the side of his head, with Farrel treating the guard just as he would treat another wolf, going by the surname of _O'Donnell_. The hired soldier was toppled with ease, felled by the smaller pilot, wielding a massive, spiked mace.

Once more, Farrel found himself carried over by the weight of the mace, which crashed to the ground. One of the spikes was lodged in the floor tiles and he found that he couldn't pull it free. The guard was already down and yet Farrel continued to tug at the weapon. "FORGET IT," Fox shouted, sitting up quickly. "Get the stone! That dude called for backup; we've got to hurry!"

Farrel blinked rapidly, coming to his senses. After a split-second reverie, Phoenix nodded, adding, "Right, Fox!" He then turned about and ran back towards the empty pedestal, quickly searching the area with his eyes. The empty dome was on the floor and the pedestal was empty. "Where the hell did it go?" He shouted, throwing his paws outwards. "It's gone, Fox!"

"Dammit," McCloud said, pounding the floor with his paw. "There is someone else here; this is a bust mission; let's get back to the ship!"

"They can't be far!" Farrel retorted.

"Sure they can," Fox rebutted, shaking his head. "We don't know if they came by land or air but they're gone and the guards are coming. We don't have any time, let's go! We'll do a quick sweep by Arwing but we've got to get out of here _now!_" The two made a break for the door and began to scale the side of the scoured looking barrels. Once they were at the top, they hopped downwards into the hollow center, where the two-seater Arwing was located.

To Fox's surprise, the communication computer was illuminated and a small indicator light was blinking in alert. The canopy slid open and both pilots took their positions with McCloud booting the computer quickly. The Mercenary squad leader simply said, "We've missed an emergency communiqué from GreatFox. You check it out while I get us the hell out of here."

"It's from … one of the Falco's; I'm not sure which," Farrel reported, drawing a headset over his ears to listen to the message. "Oh hell," he muttered. The Arwing began a vertical ascent, with Fox scanning the sensors for any fleeing vessels in the immediate area. "Fox, he's reporting that his instruments don't work on his Arwing and that he and both versions of Slippy Toad have received an emergency message from Peppy, on Corneria. He says something about an attack on Lylat…!"

"This day is just getting better and better," Fox muttered, pulling back on the control stick. "Open a channel to either Peppy so we can find out what's going on here. Also, I don't detect any other ships fleeing the area. This thief might be lying low, but it's too risky to stay around to find out. We can't do very much in prison."

Farrel did as he was told, opening a communications patch to Peppy Hare; whichever one cared to respond. The _military_ version, from Fox Junior's crew, was quick to answer the channel. His wife, Vivian Andromeda Hare, was standing in the background, chatting with the old Mercenary doppelganger; she had a cup of tea in her right paw, cupping beneath the cup with her left paw. She seemed classy in stature and her stance was one that immediately showed her fondness for etiquette.

"This is Farrel Phoenix; I don't have a lot of time to explain who I am or how I came into this picture but I'm here with Mister 'Mac' McCloud, having just gotten some information from Falco, saying we should contact you." The overly-drawn out run-on sentence made it obvious to Peppy that the boy's nerves were rattled.

"I need both of you to remain calm about this," Peppy began. He took a deep breath, as Farrel patched the channel into the fighter's interior public announcement speakers so that McCloud could hear, as well. Hare continued, telling them, "Some sort of strange anomaly has been sighted _and_ engaged by military forces. It's using powerful energy attacks, aggressively spreading through Lylat. Falco has broken from his mission to join the Lylat Military in fighting this menace and they would like your help, gentleman. So far, we're not deterring it and Peppy and myself… we're sitting here trying to put our heads together to see if we need those spell stones to combat this thing. Regardless, see if you guys can help the military strike force out in the far quadrant, beyond Sector Y."

"Understood," Farrel said, mimicked by McCloud in the same firm tones of comprehension. Once the communication patch was closed, McCloud sighed, grumbling to himself that this _detour_ was going to eat into their time; the merger between the two dimensions would happen soon but part of him _had_ to go and see this thing for himself. He had to know if this _was_ the merger happening and remembered the energy attacks that he experienced, first hand, in his dimension, when searching for the engagement ring for Krystal.

The Arwing still had plenty of fuel and a very _short_ trip by the base on Corneria would give Farrel an Arwing of his own. As it stood now, they would probably need every available pilot and having Farrel in the navigator seat would be annoyingly useless. Things were just starting to heat up, Fox simply had no idea what to expect at this point.

* * *

**GreatFox** sat in the midst of the strange adaptation of Alpha Lylat Universe which was home to Fara Phoenix and Fox McCloud Junior, the son of Fox Senior and known military hero. Once Fara, Krystal and a female doppelganger of Fox McCloud returned to the GreatFox, they found that the ship was autonomous at the hands of ROB64.

The group landed their fighters and escorted Wolf O'Donnell to the brig. Once he was properly incarcerated, the three women headed for the bridge. Fox made her way to the seat typically used by the Mercenary version of herself from Krystal's dimension. She slumped down into the seat and snuggled her weight back into the cushions with a sigh.

Fara sank into another chair directly in front of the communication's terminal. Krystal, on the other hand, went across the deck and asked for a report from ROB. His head rotated while his body continued to face a navigation control terminal and his eyes brightened in illumination. His report, as always, was made in a fairly monotone voice.

"All is well, thus far, on all fronts. However, there was an energy-pattern discrepancy very similar to the one recorded upon the arrival of Miss Fox McCloud, Mister Farrel Phoenix and their version of Wolf O'Donnell. It is, however, slightly smaller in size."

"Where?" Krystal asked her question then glanced back at Fara and Fox to ensure their eyes were on Rob. As she had hoped, the attention of the entire room was now on the robotic pilot.

"There is a jettisoned escape pod in sector "Y", part of a fighter cockpit. It's homing beacon signal is transmitting in a Cornerian language but its frequency and operating identification number do not match any in-use number from this system or any number in my archives from _our_ Lylat."

"Dammit," McCloud groused softly. "Just when you're ready to kick back and watch how the boys are doing, more cooks get added to the kitchen. This is getting confusing. Why does this keep happening; we've got to figure _that_ out, before we wind up having everyone from every system wind up in another system."

"Agreed," Fara replied.

"We should investigate," Krystal suggested almost immediately. "An escape pod doesn't hold an infinite amount of breathing air. I'll transmit a communiqué to the other teams to let them know that we're taking GreatFox into the Sector 'Y' region of this system. Rob, set an interception course and make best possible time."

ROB's head turned back to his primary station and he began to type quickly. "ETA in 17 minutes, Cornerian Standard time. Stand by for jump-sequence."

* * *

**The floating box** rotated silently in the obsidian void of space. Through the polarized canopy glass, the occupant could see the 'Y' shaped nebula and a school of what appeared to be ocean-like creatures swimming through the void. A paw was pressed to the glass, cutting through the thin film of condensation that further tinted the clear shielding.

A few short moments later, the escape pod was bathed in a shimmering glow as GreatFox emerged from the gloomy void. A warm, emerald glow encased the jettisoned cockpit, adding inertia and simulated kinetic energy to the object. It was drawn inwards, growing closer to the GreatFox and its cargo bay. The main doors parted and an energy-based atmospheric force field covered the gap with a very slight orange tint. The cockpit passed through the field then settled against the flight deck with a metallic grunt.

Three vixens approached it slowly, remaining cautious. Of those three, the lithe bodied azure furred one immediately grew alarmed, consumed with worry once she was in proximity of the object. "Get it open!" She cried, rushing towards the box. She and Fara searched for a lever to open the canopy while Fox took a blaster from the wall for security purposes. The cockpit was lying on its side, so the canopy opened horizontally with a grunt. A hiss of atmospheric air was quick to eek from the ejection pod as the canopy glass parted from the metallic siding, breaking the pressurized seal.

"Put that down and help us," Krystal said to McCloud. Fox thought for a moment then she narrowed her eyes, lowering the weapon. Finally, it found a temporary home in the waistband of her pants. She approached the other two and pulled a metal tool from the side of the ejection pod used to dig emergency fox holes in the field. It was then wedged beneath the sideways ejection pod and she used the leverage to roll the metallic case onto its belly with the canopy window facing upwards. It took Fara's help to wedge it over but once it was upright, Krystal was quick to lean over and peer inside of it.

Two women were unconscious inside. The first was an aristocratic looking feline with a thin tuft of fur at the tip of her ears and a fluffy-haired poodle-like canine who was wedged into the contraption as well. Phoenix approached Krystal, looking in at the two pilots. "Let's get'em out of there," Fara said, reaching in and cradling her paws beneath the poodle-mixed spaniel who was draped over the other.

The fennec pushed her soft palms beneath the woman's arms and lifted her from the cockpit ejection seat with Krystal's help. Laying the pilot on the flight deck, they worked to pull the lynx from the ejection unit the same way but found that her muscular density was a great deal more; she was heavy to lift and it required the help of Fox to get the woman out without injuring her. Once both pilots were laid out on the floor, Krystal set herself to the task of searching for identification.

They both wore dog tags about their necks which caused Krystal's eyes to widen. "This is getting weirder by the minute; you've both got to see this!"

"What is it?" Fara asked.

"They're members of StarFox!" Krystal exclaimed. This intrigued the vixen version of Fox McCloud as well, who dropped the metallic shovel to the deck. It clattered noisily but was forgotten by McCloud who was curious about having these two startlingly beautiful women on a team. Not only that, she'd never seen them before in her life and apparently neither had Fara or Krystal.

Upon closer inspection, the dog tags identified the women as Fay and Miyu but no last names were printed on the metallic tags. Krystal turned to Fara and said, "Call ROB down here; maybe he can access the Cornerian public database and identify them in this dimension."

"Right," Fara said with a confirming nod. She turned about and headed across the flight deck, disappearing through the door. Fox watched her leave then turned back to Krystal, tilting her head.

"You're something else," Krystal said, shaking her head slowly.

"Hate to see'er go, but I love to watch'er leave," McCloud said with an indifferent shrug. "Is _that_ what you expected me to say? I'm a bit more on the professional side than that, you know."

"If anyone can empathize with you, it's me," Krystal said, adding, "Not because we feel the same way, but because I feel…"

"…what your subject feels," Fox added in a cold tone. "Yes, I know. That's why I feel awkward towards _you_. I don't especially know a whole race of Telepaths or anything. Sensing intentions is one thing but reading minds is a little weird for me, no offence."

Krystal paused then knelt back down to the two pilots, checking their pockets for any other forms of Identification. "None taken," She replied softly. Krystal managed to locate a wallet in Miyu's front pocket and pulled it out slowly. She flipped the leather object open and scanned the driver's license within, adjacent to a piloting license. "It reads Miyu Lynx but it's…" Krystal paused again, nearly gasping air. She backed away from the bobcat-looking female and said, "She's awake and she's confused."

"Her eyes are shut, she's not moving and her breathing rate is maintained," Fox replied, sniffing at the woman for a moment.

"No, she's alive and awake; she's trained to assess the situation before acting…" Krystal raised her voice then said, "You're safe, Miyu. My name is Krystal and this, here, is Fox Mc… eh, it's going to be a convoluted explanation at best… perhaps you should just open your eyes, please?"

Miyu furrowed her brow, opening her eyes to narrow horizontal slits. Within, her pupils were vertical slits which reverse-dilated just slightly upon contact with the powerful lighting in the flight deck's ceiling. "How did you know," She growled softly, sitting up and reaching her paw for her thigh. However, her blaster was missing and Krystal could sense the stifled panic in her chest. It seemed that the woman was quite apt to suppress her anger and alarm, remaining calm, cool and collected on the outside.

"I'm Fox McCloud," The other woman said to Miyu, adding, "You are from a different, parallel universe where a few of the details had a butterfly ripple effect and now everything you know is all mixed up and different. Face it, pilot, you're in the twilight zone, sweetheart. But with Luck's Paw, we'll get out of this if you want to help us."

Miyu's eyes opened a bit more and she turned to look Fox over. Mild surprise could be sensed by Krystal but Miss Lynx kept things cool and collected. She was mostly muscle with well placed deposits of body fat on her tail, her thighs and her bosom. While it was only a first impression, Fox decided that she was just damn attractive. She thrust her paw in Miyu's face and the feline reached up to take the offering. McCloud pulled her to her feet and watched as the aristocratic looking woman dusted herself off.

"We were ambushed by that asshat monkey, Andross Bowman." Miyu shook her head slowly then turned to Fay and nudged the canine in the side with her toe. "Get up, pookie."

"Pookie?" Krystal asked, blinking somewhat.

"She calls me Goober sometimes," Miyu explained. "So I started calling her that in return. C'mon," She said, directing the last word towards her friend. "You okay, Fay?" Miyu then knelt down by her friend, cupping the woman's head into her paw. Fay's lids fluttered open slowly, gazing up at her pal with a somewhat-drunken sigh and lopsided smile.

"I feel high," Fay said in a scratchy voice. She cleared her throat then repeated herself. "I feel high; where the heck are we?"

"GreatFox," Krystal replied. "What happened that sent you two here?"

"Heck if I know," Miyu said. "We were following after Algy and lost his path. We came face to face with Andross Bowman, cornered him and called for backup. He got the drop on us and Algy attacked Fay from behind. I popped him in the mouth when that worm, Andrew Oikonny showed up and I beat the stuffing out of that one. Andross pressed a button on his computer panel and I was nabbed by a force field. I couldn't breathe and soon passed out. Next thing I know, I'm reaching up and putting my palm on the glass of my cockpit ejection seat, looking out at the void, but I could hardly breathe. I hung in for another few seconds but then… nothing. And now I'm here."

"Sounds like hell," Fox sighed softly. "Let's get you two to the infirmary. The facilities of the Sanofirmary meet even _my _high standards; let's get you two on your feet. Can you both walk?"

"Sanofirmary?" Miyu asked, tilting her head.

Fox remembered the blaster in her pants, removed it and tossed it to Krystal, saying, "Sano: an old language word, meaning 'to heal'… infirmary, being the medical center; their sickbay is a modern marvel, let's get you two a full physical to make sure he didn't do anything to you before throwing you out with the trash."

"You've got a doctor onboard?" Miyu asked, looking around at what appeared to be a military or mercenary flight deck.

"Yeah," Fox replied. "Sort of; I'm in pharmaceutical but I think I can figure my way around a facility like that one; let's have a look at you both. It's just a safety and security precaution. It couldn't hurt to take some blood and make sure he's not done anything to you two."

Fay sat up, placing a paw on Miyu's shoulder to help herself sit tall. She then nodded to Fox and said, "Fair enough, he _is_ a bio-weapon engineer and chemist, after all. It's probably best to make sure that he didn't experiment before tossing us. Where in the heck is the StarFox team?"

"You're looking at part of it," Krystal replied. "There are different team members from different dimensions and it's… very… confusing. Let's get you girls to the sickbay." Krystal then turned to Fox and frowned. "If you're familiar with medical things then why did you let me stitch up Farrel?"

"Because I thought he should tough it out like a man," Fox explained, shaking her head. "I don't know what else to tell you, Krystal; I wouldn't have let him get the cuts infected but I thought that he should handle his wounds like a grown man. It would have earned more respect than whining like a sissy. I'm not trying to be hard on him or call him a pansy but I want to know he's able to walk away from a fight like that with his chin up and his chest out."

"He fought off Wolf O'Donnell by himself," Krystal reminded the vixen. "It took all three of us to do what he did."

"He got lucky," Fox said, shaking her head. She helped Fay up then guided the two women across the flight deck, walking alongside Krystal. "Believe me, the kid gets respect for standing up to Wolf and doing as well as he did. He's still flying with us, isn't he? If I thought he was a complete waste of time and talent, I'd have grounded him to ensure he doesn't need rescuing. If he wants to continue trying to prove himself, that's his decision. It's not that I can't be bothered with something like that, I just don't think coddling him will help the situation."

"It's hardly coddling," Krystal said, growing a bit defensive. "He's a good pilot and a male version of Fara. She's earned her respect and clout as a fighter pilot and he's capable of all the same things."

"But she fought harder as a woman to be at the top of her field," Fox argued politely. "Farrel fought to prove he's not a richboy pansy but lost his focus of proving himself as a damn good pilot. She worked her way up the ranks to what she became and Farrel is still thought of as a richboy pansy because he forgot to prove what counts the most… his piloting abilities. It's just…"

"Complicated?" Krystal asked, patting Fox's shoulder. For some reason, McCloud didn't seem to mind the physical contact so much this time around. She let it slide and gave Krystal a slight smile.

"Yeah," replied McCloud. "Complicated is what it is. I suppose it's just really strange; why would he give a damn about trying to prove himself to _me_? I'm a screwed up 'genderbender' pilot. Everyone sees me as the freak-show. Why would he give a crap? I mean, I don't even know him and he follows me like a lovesick puppy. I can't be with someone who is _that_ clingy."

"All right, all right Fox," Krystal said, shaking her head slowly. The two walked down the hallway with Miyu and Fay who appeared to be metaphorically licking their wounds. Krystal then added, "His doppelganger and your doppelganger are lovers, convinced that they're soul mates. They're betrothed and planning a wedding, Fox. Maybe Farrel feels that same connection to _you_."

McCloud shrugged apathetically and said, "Well, it's a shame, I don't feel it for him. Just like _your_ Fox McCloud loves _you_ and not Fara Phoenix from your universe."

"I'm not even sure that they met before she died in combat," Krystal explained with a frown. "If he had, they might have fallen in love. He and I are compatible as mates and perhaps fate caused our paths to cross so that he wouldn't be lonely."

"I don't buy it," Fox replied. "If that was so and Soul Mates were real, your boyfriend would have been panting over Fara Phoenix, the minute you met them. He seems pretty damn satisfied with you at his side. And hell, who knows…! Maybe there is a male or female version of _you_ in _my_ universe, Krystal. Maybe he or she is my future mate but… it won't be Farrel Phoenix, no matter how much he or _anyone_ else wants that to happen. He's not my style, it's not my thing. He's a pilot and if he's good, I'll let him fly for me. If he's _really_ good and we all make it back to our homes in one piece, I _might_ let him fly for StarFox. But that is an elite mercenary team and I don't clean up after anyone because that kinda stuff gets pilots killed. Slippy flies for us because he makes up for his flying with his technical abilities, his ship and by accessing shield display readouts against enemies. Peppy makes up for his age with his professionalism and his wisdom. Falco makes up for his cockiness with his skills as a pilot. And what's sad is… we've not been an actual team in a _long_ time."

Krystal frowned, nodding her head slowly. The little blue vixen was learning a lot about Fox who had a _very_ different history than her masculine replicas. "You've had a tough life and I can feel that you're locking something deep inside of you. It's pent up and you stifle it like a grape in your fist but instead of finding a therapeutic release, you just struggle with it."

"I don't hide it," Fox snapped, opening the door for Fay and Miyu. "I just deal with it differently than someone else might deal with it." The poodle and lynx remained quiet, listening to the girls who were on the verge of actual bickering.

"What happened, Fox?" Krystal asked.

"Another time, okay?" She said, hooking a thumb at Fay and Miyu. "It's complicated and this isn't the time or place for it, all right? Alright, let's get these two some fluids and then, after the physical, we'll get them fed."

Fay smiled, trying to brush aside the awkward backstory going on between the two women she'd never met before. "Sounds good to me!" The canine said with a boisterous smile. Krystal could feel that the half-poodle was a little put off by the conversation between herself and Fox but she could also sense that Fay was polite enough to simply push it all aside. The four girls made their way to the medical bay beds where Miyu and Fay both sat upon them without being asked.

Just then, Fara came into the room with ROB and said, "You guys weren't on the flight deck so I figured this to be the next most obvious place. ROB has some startling news on the boys and I brought him to see the new pilots."

"Fara?" Fay asked, blinking rapidly. "Miyu, it's Fox's friend from the Cornerian Air Guard, Fara Phoenix."

"Damn, it sure enough is," Miyu replied. "What're you doing here, Fara?"

The fennec blinked rapidly, looking from the canine to the feline. She finally just blurted out, "Fox is my fiancé."

"Whoa!" Fay exclaimed. "This _is_ another universe! Where we come from, Fox wants a relationship with Fara Phoenix but she won't give it, at least not yet, because she's worried he wants some sort of strange psychological replacement for his mother and due to the physical similarities between Fara and Vixy, Fara won't commit to a relationship yet."

The female version of Fox turned to Krystal with a smirk and simply said, "So much for your soul-mate theory."

"It isn't _my_ theory," Krystal whispered in rebuttal. "I sense that it is _their_ theory about each other."

Fox simply shrugged and said, "Maybe we all have our own soul, even though we have alternative versions of ourselves. Either that or the whole 'soul' thing is just a metaphor that gave the religious types some sort of perverted hope for salvation."

"Enough," Krystal whispered back, turning to Fara. She then said, "So we've established that we're all very different but bring ROB in here and let's see if he can cross reference Fay and Miyu in my dimension or possibly access the archives for this Lylat system. Also, let's hear about the boys' progress, shall we?"

ROB approached the two women and looked them over. He then said, "Stand by while I access the archives for _this_ Lylat." A moment went by then, in a monotone voice, he stated, "They're both dead in _both_ dimensions. Their fates were met the very same way, both times."

"Great," Fay muttered in a flat voice, far from her normal bouncy personality. "Now we're dead in our universe… at least that's what the team thinks."

"Maybe that's why we're considered dead in their worlds," Miyu concluded. "Each time we wind up in a different universe and we're assumed to be killed in action."

"Incorrect," ROB replied. "You're both given open casket funerals; you were both killed in a military incursion on Corneria during the Lylat Wars. A Plasma canon was fired, sending a round into a military hotel which collapsed. You were both asphyxiated under the debris, unable to climb out in time."

"Enough," Miyu said, holding up her paw. "That happened to us, just the way you said but Slippy Toad was shot down over the city and his Arwing crashed into the remains of our hotel. The rubble shifted and we climbed out then we rescued him. I took him over to the base and all three of us got ships and rejoined the fight. We joined StarFox six months after Andross retreated."

"Then," Krystal's muzzle tugged into a grin. "Slippy Toad saved your lives, ladies. All right, now that everyone knows who everyone is and formalities, however strange they were, are out of the way… let's find out how our men are doing. ROB?"

ROB turned to the wall and put his right index finger into a small circle socket that was built into the bulkhead. A nearby monitor lit up and showed a miasma of light at the edge of the sector. He then told them, "StarFox was divided into multiple groups. They withdrew their missions and formed up into two _new_ groups. Each Fox McCloud paired up with their original team members. Everyone flew into the strange light…"

Fox blinked, placing her paws upon her hips. "Why weren't we told about the change in plan?" Her paws slid down, dropping to her sides. She was irritated that they not only deviated from their plans but they didn't even tell the girls what was going on or why they were following a new course of action. "I thought we were all in this together? They didn't say a word about it."

ROB turned to face her and simply said, "Subspace communication buoys are down in several quadrants."

"Dammit," Fox groused, closing her paws into fists. "Do we know their status? When did they engage?"

"Six minutes ago," the robot answered. "Their signal was lost shortly after entering the field."

"What are we supposed to do about the spell stones?" Krystal asked. "Do you think we should finish that mission or set up a search party?"

"What good are these spell stones, anyhow?" Fox asked, folding her arms. "It's something you wanted to take back to your dimension, right?"

"It's complicated," Krystal said, half wincing that they were back to square one, where they were on the flight deck, earlier, in their conversation. She shook her head and sighed, running her left paw up through the blue strands of headfur between her ears. "We were under the impression that it would fix _every_thing somehow. This dimension was somehow trying to merge with _my_ dimension and it was creating some sort of flux or paradox or whatever. I'm no quantum mechanics expert but somehow having double the spell stones should somehow repel the shift by protecting the subordinate universe from being mended which should begin any time now."

Fara nodded, adding, "From what we were told, the universe is trying to heal itself by making everything perfect and normal. The more that changes, the more the universe tries to heal itself by causing catastrophic changes, until both sides are similar. If a planet doesn't exist in one universe, then the planet is destroyed in the other so that both dimensions match. If that happens, everyone on that planet is killed. We can't let that happen."

"It sounds like bullshit to me," McCloud snapped. "Look at Fay and Miyu, here. Their dimension is even _more_ radically different and no one is being sent there to save anything."

Miyu then added, "And Fox in our… uh, universe… has _blue_ eyes."

The vixen McCloud turned about and said, "Now _that_ is an interesting difference. So," She turned back to ROB and said, "I'm not as interested in these spell stones as my twins are. I'm interested in finding out what's going on and trying to stop this strange chain of events where every single version of an infinite number of alternatives show up in this freakin' system, needing a baby sitter."

"Right now, I agree," Fara said. "We have loved ones and a team… our _families_ in that thing. We should research it, investigate it then plan a mission accordingly. The Spell stones can wait if that's what we need to find."

"But," Krystal interjected. "We were also told that this merger happens soon. We can't dilly dally if it turns out to be the real thing."

"Can't you sense something about it?" Fox asked. "Someone from your world says go get the spell stones from another dimension and bring them back; can't you sense an ulterior motive involved?"

"No, it was a computer program that demanded this," Krystal explained. "I couldn't sense anything from it and it's been doing the math on this for a long time. We stumbled upon this guy on Sauria. In our world, there have been strange occurrences where plasmatic bolts of energy come from out of nowhere and strike things. The Artificial Intelligence involved told us that it's the first symptom of an apocalyptic merger."

"One of the team members has been located!" ROB told them. Everyone turned to face him, the suspense sort of building in a way. ROB then announced, "Farrel's Arwing has returned from the anomaly. Following behind him is both Fox McClouds." To his words, both Krystal and Fara immediately began to radiate with relief. They exchanged glances between one another, offering a strange sort of half-stare where both subconsciously acknowledged that it was damn strange loving a variation of the same man but it was not spoken… at least not for now.

Fox began pacing. "What about the rest of the team?"

"Stand by," ROB replied. "Their status is unknown; the three Arwings on long range sensors appear to be in desperate need of repair."

"Set a course, make absolute best possible speed," Fox said. It felt good to give an important order and she suddenly felt in her element. It wasn't that she was coming to their rescue; she was doing the right thing and doing it without hesitation. Who knows what they faced in that strange glowing thing; she couldn't judge them with all three having sustained damage. Obviously this thing was quite the enemy.

"Affirmative," ROB said. Having access to the ship's computer via his access to the socket in the wall, the GreatFox changed course and began to head on an intercept course to pick up the pilots whose Arwings were damaged. Miyu and Fay were given a full physical by McCloud to ensure that they were completly safe and healthy. Once they checked out, the entire group of women, five in all, headed for the bridge.

"Has anyone else reported clear of the strange nebula?" Fox asked, assuming the chair at the center of the bridge.

"Negative; communications are still down," ROB reported. "We'll be within tractor range in three minutes."

"All right," Fox said, turning to the rest of the women on the bridge. "It's possible that these men are injured. It takes a lot to whip an Arwing and if they've been thrown around a lot, they're going to need help. Miyu, Fay, welcome to _this_ StarFox team. Everyone, head down to the flight deck and be ready to help get them out of their cockpits. I'm going to stay here and try to use the sensors and a reverse polarity tow-beam to push the illuminated cloud back. Then I'm going to shoot a probe in there and see what we learn. I'll be down if I find out anything."

"Sounds like a plan," Fara said.

"Works for me," Miyu added, heading for the door. Krystal, Fay, Fara and Miyu headed off the bridge, leaving Fox and ROB.

Meanwhile, Fox groused softly in ROB's direction. "We've got to find both Falco, both Slippy and then we've got to head back to Corneria and contact each Peppy. Let's hope this isn't serious; I don't want to see dead pilots."

"Might I make a suggestion?" ROB asked.

"Why the hell not," Fox said, sighing to alleviate some measure of frustration. "What's your suggestion, Rob?"

"Check on the prisoner; it would be a very bad thing for him to escape _right_ _now_. I'll perform the probe search and other options. I'll contact you by Public Announcement system, if anything is found."

"Ran some computations, huh?" Fox asked. "Sounds like Wolf escaping would be bad news. Yeah, I'll make sure he's still in his pen."

"Affirmative. If Wolf O'Donnell escaped, his likelihood to cause trouble would be…"

"… really likely as a percentage; I get it, I'm going." Fox shook her head and walked off the bridge, leaving ROB alone.

"That is correct," ROB said to the walls. "98 percent, rounded down for an attempt at satire." He then turned back to the viewscreen and began punching in commands in the keyboard to launch a probe into the strange nexus.

Meanwhile, Fox made her way down to the brig. She stepped directly in front of Wolf's cell, glad to see that he was still inside of it. "Hey, loser."

"I'm really disappointed in you," Wolf told her, shaking his head slowly. "You could have joined my Mercenary squadron, Fox. You could have gone back to your own. You chose to fulfill your obligation to the damn Military. What was that all about?"

"Listen," McCloud said with a sigh. "Our past? That is _over_, Wolf. It was a short flit; a fling, if you will. It was me confusing respect for another pilot with lust and what happened was brief. You don't own me; you'll never have me again."

"That's not even what I'm talking about," Wolf said, blowing off her topic change and reverting to the first one. "I'm upset that you let Jumper screw you, force you to sign a military contract after revoking your piloting license, then he puts you in a room with a bunch of goddamn pills, hoping you'd swallow them and off yourself. You could have told him where to shove it, stole an Arwing and operated far away from Corneria. He's finally out and you're still in the military, waiting for your tour to end! What in the hell? You should have told them all where the hell to stuff it!"

"Wolf!" Fox barked, narrowing her eyes. "Shut the hell up. You don't even know me, so stop trying to read me like a book. I'm in another language all together, O'Donnell."

"Maybe I do and maybe I don't," Wolf said. "I thought you'd have told the military and Jumper where they could stuff it but I was wrong. You had the balls to break the rules and sneak into the all-male flight academy. You had the balls to take down Andross. You had the balls to let the people of Corneria think that you actually have balls. You didn't care what they thought, you only wanted to become a fighter pilot and do what you had to do. Now you're thinking about everyone _except_ yourself. What the hell is that all about!"

"Do I have to come in there and smack you upside the head?" Fox turned her back on him, folding her arms. Part of him was right and part of her still had a subconscious attraction to him but a lot of things changed between them. "You're still a complete and total asshole, Wolf. You were a jerk back in the old Nuclear facility on Fortuna and you were a scumbag a few years ago; I was just too mixed up in my head at the time."

"What the hell," Wolf groaned. "You wear pants instead of a skirt and _suddenly_ you're mixed up? That sounds like a lame excuse, McCloud. Come at me with a better one."

Fox turned around, leveling her narrow gaze at him. "Do you know what military POWs endure? They're dragged into their cell, kicking and screaming. They're stripped down, naked, and bathed with a fire hose. Guess what the reaction was when they found out I wasn't a male?"

Wolf scrunched up his brows and approached the bars, looking her over for a moment. "You were _raped_ during the Lylat War?"

"Screw you," Fox muttered. "I am _not_ going to answer that. I've had a few hard times thrown at me but _our_ little fling is hardly life shattering. There's no way I could have even attempted a relationship, let alone lasted in one with Falco; do you even realize how ridiculously phucked up my head was after _that_ sort of trauma? I couldn't stay with _you_, I couldn't work things out with _him_; I didn't have a good set of memories when I became a venom _POW_. I've heard a ton of conflicting stories about how _my_ father died. Was it in a black hole? Was he a prisoner to Andross and Pigma Dengar? No, he disappeared to start a new life over _without_ my mother. Men are pretty sleazy, sometimes. I don't have much of an opinion on them, O'Donnell. And how I choose to live now, whether I'm some 'gender bender' pilot, or whatever the hell you want to call me, that's up to me …and _you_ can go to hell. I make my own decisions, despite what you may think. Also, what happened to me on Venom isn't any of your personal affairs; but yes, I was treated a little differently than the average inmate. Again, it's not your business, so don't try nosing into it."

"So, Venom thought they could take Fox McCloud down a notch or two on the floor of a dirty cell," O'Donnell mused. "Did they run a train on you? Put a gun to your head and make you beg for your own death while they did it? Did they force you down and make you take it like a dogged vixen in heat during a summer rain?"

Fox approached the cell, reached between the high voltage laser bars, snatched him by the collar and pulled him directly into the glowing beams. The intense shock stunned him into silence. She gave his body a shove, throwing him to the floor, where he laid there, twitching slightly.

"I can't wait until we're both in a cockpit again," Fox said. "It's going to be a true pleasure, next time you're in my targeting reticule."

Wolf wheezed ever so slightly. "Only _I_ can tan your hide, Fox McCloud."

"Maybe you'll rot in that cell, first," Fox told him, shaking her head with a smirk. "And before your ego gets too large you should probably know something… you were lousy. Falco wasn't only better, Wolf… he lasted _twice_ as long as you did. No, I'm not saying this to get the last laugh, it's honestly true. I just figured someone with a huge, inflated ego like yourself, should know the truth: You're _not_ perfect and you're not the _best_ at everything you do. You're a scuzzball with a _half_-decent kill score. Sure, I respected you as a pilot once… but then I saw what _real_ piloting was. Stay in your cell, O'Donnell. If you try to escape, I'll beat you senseless."

Wolf reached for his throat, trying to wheeze out another reply but he nearly had the wind knocked out of him from the zap he'd received from the bars. Fox was wearing gloves on her paws and had held onto his collar when she pulled him into the field. She threateningly reached through the bars for him, once more. He rolled away from the laser bars, glaring up at her. In reply to cringing, she simply smiled then turned to head back down the hallway. "Enjoy your new apartment, O'Donnell! You deserve it!" She continued down the hall until she was gone.

"We'll see," Wolf muttered softly under his breath.

* * *

A/N:

_This is a strange story; I started on it two years ago and it grew into a strange monster. I have original characters, family members of fox mccloud, all that stuff from my other old stories (see Family Affairs, finally posted!) and all I can say is… I'm not the writer for this story anymore. HOWEVER… people like it. It's really popular, considering. I'm really surprised people read it and it's the most popular of my least read stories… It's almost triple the 'hits' that THE CURSE has gotten and that one I actually TRY on. Lol_

_Am I going to end this story? NO. Of course not, I just need to figure out how to end it and re-read it so I can keep it together, so there are no more freakin' loopholes, like that one escape-pod thing that someone mentioned to me, lol. _

_It was for a reader that I started on this chapter. The more feedback I receive, the more inclined I am to keep going. The readers inspire me to continue. :) _

_-KIT_


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